I am convinced the answer to this is yes! I have noticed a definite change of behaviour in my pets when there is a full moon. They are more skittish, more prone to unusual or annoying behaviour such as, in the case of yellow Lab ZsazSa, asking to be let out at three o'clock in the morning for no apparent reason. Lovely! (Yawn!)
Italians are great believers in the power of the moon. You can buy gardening calendars here showing what to plant at which phase of the moon. My neighbours used to discuss whether the wine could be decanted into bottles as the moon was in the wrong phase. Once their lettuce planting was delayed because of a storm, but now the moon was wrong – what to do?
They agonised over putting up a wooden fence. They needed it, but the moon was calante (I think)and anyone knows if you put wooden stakes in the ground at the wrong time, they rot.
This belief in the moon's influence extends to hair cutting, nail cutting and the birth of babies and animals.
The moon is our nearest planet and we all know that it affects every aspect of our lives, one of the most obvious being the tides. The argument is that if it can affect huge bodies of water then, as we are made up of mostly water, it must have an equally powerful effect on animals and humans too. Studies have been done analysing the effect of the moon on the number of crimes committed or hospital admittances. And the origin of 'lunatic' is clearly etymologically linked to la luna.
Given all that, it's hardly surprising my little darlings act up when the moon is full. I'm wondering now as I write this if little cat Jimmy's accident last month (he broke his jaw) was during a full moon.
I have just looked it up. It was on May 26 – a full moon! Told you!