Mooney Goes Wild

Derek Mooney and guests explore the natural world in all its forms. Tonight: red squirrels make a comeback thanks to pine martens; a Cork pub’s unexpected squirrel visitor; how animals heal themselves with Prof. Jaap de Roode; Terry Flanagan’s new documentary on Painted Lady butterfly! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rory Cobbe investigates how a red squirrel turned a Cork pub into an assault course and became an internet sensation! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prof Jaap de Roode joins Derek and the panel to explore how insects and other animals use nature to treat illness. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As he makes his new documentary, Terry Flanagan joins Derek to reveal the remarkable migration of the Painted Lady butterfly and Ireland’s bumper numbers in 2025...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Colin Lawton reveals the latest 2026 survey results showing red squirrels recovering and pine martens spreading across Ireland...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Terry Flanagan & Éanna Ní Lamhna visit TCD’s Herbarium to meet curator Dr Peter Moonlight after its major refurbishment...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prof Emma Teeling reveals how new UCD research has traced the origins of bats to Europe 60–65 million years ago...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Niall Hatch explains how spiders survive getting wet, and why House Spiders so often find themselves trapped in our baths...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derek kicks off tonight’s programme with a challenge for Niall: can he identify a mystery bird sound from a video that Derek shot with his phone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Terry Flanagan meets June Woodward in Co Clare to see her successful Barn Owl nestbox and its remarkable occupants. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dave Suddaby explains how BirdWatch Ireland has helped Lapwings recover at Annagh Marsh on the Mullet Peninsula. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catherine Ó Flathartaigh shares her remarkable footage of a rare white Swallow with Niall, who explains leucism and albinism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Niall Hatch reports on BirdLife’s State of the World’s Birds and the Nairobi Flyways Declaration. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Terry Flanagan learns night photography from Anthony Lynch at Dunsink Observatory. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Niall Hatch answers listeners’ questions about elusive summer Robins and why insects survive crashing into windows. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rory Cobbe meets Róisín FitzGerald, John Leahy & Aileen Tennant at Fota to learn more about their new Sumatran Tiger cubs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thom Breathnach tells us about SANCCOB in Cape Town, and their efforts to save the Critically Endangered African Penguin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Terry Flanagan visits Declan Murphy in Newcastle, Co Wicklow, to discover why 2026 has been a good year for Irish butterflies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prof Philip McGinnity discusses the impact of farmed Atlantic Salmon interbreeding with wild Irish salmon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ken Whelan explores Arctic Char, Grayling, invasive Pink Salmon and King Crab in northern Norway and Finland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derek Mooney and guests explore the natural world in all its forms. For three decades, Mooney Goes Wild reporter Terry Flanagan has been roaming the highways and byways of Ireland in search of answers to your wildlife queries. He's been up every tree, down every ditch and through every hedge in pursuit of a good story - if there's a mystery in the natural world, Terry is usually the man to solve i...

The secretive, almost supernatural, reputation of the Snow Leopard, which lives high in the mountain ranges of Central and Southern Asia, has led to the species being dubbed The Ghost of the Mountains - which just so happens to be the title of a new book about these remarkable big cats by Dr. Kulbhushansingh (Kullu) Suryawanshi. He joins us on the line to tell us more about these mysterious animal...

Derek Mooney and guests explore the natural world in all its forms. On tonight's show: 🪶Why Woodpigeons are still nest‑building in late August🐦A listener’s mystery pigeon with extravagant feathered feet❄️We learn about Snow Leopards with Dr Kullu Suryawanshi — author of The Ghost of the MountainsFor more information on tonight's show, visit https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/mooney/2026/0830/158974...

From Dastardly & Muttley's "Stop The Pigeon" to "Pigeon Street", there's one bird that's the focus of our first item on tonight's show! Derek recently spotted a Woodpigeon carrying a stick in its beak, something that is a common sight in the spring when nest-building is in full swing... but why in August? And we learn why some fancy pigeons have frilly, feathered legs! See omnystudio.com/liste...

Next week’s programme, which will be broadcast on Monday September 7th, will be a special compilation of some of the very best reports by our intrepid roving reporter, Terry Flanagan. To whet your appetite, we close tonight’s programme with one of Terry’s reports, first broadcast in 2019, from the Wild Ireland nature sanctuary in Co. Donegal, home to a wide array of creatures which once roamed wil...