This weeks programme is a repeat of the Mooney Goes Wild expedition to Iceland.
(first broadcast February 2004). On January 23rd next Mooney Goes Wild, the
RTE Guide and Iceland Air will give you and a friend the opportunity of life
time to win a weekend break to Iceland. Details in the RTE guide 23rd
January 2006.
24th December 2005 
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On this Saturday's programme, we hear about Dublin Zoo's latest arrival - Titu, the snow leopard (click here for the Mooney Goes Wild/ Dublin Zoo special offer, valid only on Christmas Eve), we talk to Éamon de Buitléar about his latest wildlife documentary, Derek will eat pigs' ears, we have some ideas for last minute Christmas presents, we catch up with our Bums on Bikes winners, listen to some singing sheep and why kissing under the mistletoe may soon become a thing of the past!
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17th December 2005
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- Aisling Nic An tSithigh describes how she witnessed the murder of a chough
- Following a recent discussion about the inedibility of pigs' ears , one of our listeners, Tommy, sent in some pigs' ears recipes. Derek, Richard, and Éanna talk about what these might taste like
- Derek and vet Andrew Byrne talk to Des Foley about the wild boar of Leitrim
- Eric Dempsey reports from the National Botanic Gardens, where tomorrow a very special visitor will be giving away 1500 small growing Christmas conifer trees - click here for more information
- Dr. Adrian Dyer of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge tells us about his new study which shows how bees can recognise different human faces. Our resident bee expert Philip McCabe gives his opinion on the findings. For more information on and work by Dr. Adrian Dyer, click here
- Terry Flanagan tells us about 'Lift-Off', a new work experience guide for schools and businesses
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10th December 2005
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- Laurence Foster asks, through poetry, "are birds
colour-blind and if not, do they have a colour
preference when it comes to choosing food?"
- Patricia Casey, Manager of the Poisons Information
Centre at Beaumont Hospital, warns of the perils of
seasonal berries and plants (click here for their
advice)
- Fiona Ness wonders about the significance of dreaming
about dogs; vet Andrew Byrne is on hand to help answer
- Terry Flanagan helps identify a sound recording made
by Ernie Lyons a few weeks ago, with a bit of help from
Dr. Tommy Hayden and Jackie Fox of UCD
- Niall Hatch tells us about some of the wonderful
Christmas gifts available through BirdWatch Ireland, in
particular the soft toy birds which, when squeezed,
play an actual recording of that bird (for more
information, click here)
- Sinéad Renshaw explains how a new recording from
Christian Aid Ireland has used all the gifts in the
Christmas Present Aid catalogue - from cans of worms to
goats to toilets - to remix We Three Kings (for more
information, click here)
- Niall Hatch updates us on Avian Flu
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3rd December 2005
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- We talk to vet Andrew Byrne about why yaks make
better Christmas presents than puppies (for more on
global gifts, visit Bóthar, Trócaire, Concern, Present Aid www.presentaid.ie or Oxfam Ireland)
- Andrew explains about Ireland's problem about puppy
farms (to protest against puppy farms, visit
www.irishanimals.ie)
- Avril Doyle MEP talks about why she has raised the
horrific issue of live cats and dogs being used as
shark bait at the European Parliament
- Terry Flanagan previews his documentary on the
Phoenix Park deer, to be broadcast Sunday Dec 4th at
10am
- And Prof. Nathan Efron of the University of
Manchester reveals how he has proven the concept
of "beer goggles" with a mathematical formula (for more
on this, click here)
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NOVEMBER
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26th November 2005
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Bums on Bikes - Outside Broadcast from the Phoenix Park
For the past three weeks, Mooney Goes Wild and the OPW
had been inviting listeners who had not cycled in at
least a year to become Ambassadors for Bums on Bikes.
We asked them to tell us their relationship with the
bike, and what they would do to encourage others to
start cycling again. In this special programme, our
six winners, Ewen Tubridy from Cork, Majella Cullagh
from London, John Fleming from Kildare, JJ Fleming from
Kerry, Teresa McCreary from Dublin and Kate Madden from
Waterford, receive their bikes from Tom Parlon TD,
Minister of State at the Department of Finance with
special responsibility for the Office of Public Works.
To see photos from the day, click here.
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19th November 2005
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- We talk to wildlife sound recordist Ernest Lyons
- The final three Bums on Bikes ambassadors are revealed 
- a new book that examines the origin of phrases such as 'crocodile tears'
- March Of The Penguins
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12th November 2005
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- More on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and "lightboxes".
- Eamon de Buitleár and the panel discuss Otters.
- A caller, Anne, reads a poem dedicated to the show.
- Brenda Donohue introduces some potential candidates for the Bums on Bikes campaign.
- The winners of our Radisson competition are announced.
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5th November 2005
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- The panel talk about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
- Brenda Donohue launches the Bums on Bikes campaign.
- The panel discuss bed bugs with a caller.
- We preview Wolf: Spirit of the Wild, a documentary on wolves by Eric Dempsey.
- The new additions to the Mooney Goes Wild website are outlined by Sinead Renshaw and Terry Flanagan.
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OCTOBER
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29th October 2005
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- The panel talk about a book on Dung - "Dung: A festering pile of fantastic facts and gross animal antics" (Michael Powell, Publisher: Constable and Robinson, ISBN: 1841193550)
- Are animals vain? The panel talk to Karl Broderick about a Nip/Tuck episode featuring an ape which had cosmetic surgery. Vet Andrew Byrne talks about reconstructive surgery for domestic pets. Richard and Terry discuss vanity in the animal world. The panel also discuss deja-vu and coincidence.
- Terry tells us about a baby orangutan at Dublin Zoo.
- Vet Andrew Byrne talks about the danger of fireworks this Hallowe'en for pets.
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22nd October 2005
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- Terry Flanagan records the anxiety call of a robin outside the Radio Centre in an evergreen tree. (Robins are one of the few species of birds that sing all year round). The panel discuss bird singing and feeding at this time of year.
- A further update on Avian flu - a parrot that died in quarantine in the UK has tested positive for avian flu.
- Debbie O'Donnell talks about Black Rhino Range Expansion Project.
- Derek and Terry cut the grass at Derek's house and discuss the best time of year to cut grass, depending on soil temperature (below 6 degrees celsius).
- Matthew Jebb, taxonomist, at the National Botanic Gardens, talks about African thorn trees.
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15th October 2005
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- Terry Flanagan visits the RTE canteen and records the temperatures in the fridge and freezer. The panel discuss how long it would take for an 'average' human to freeze to death...
- A listener Clare tells us she found a live caterpillar among raspberries she had just defrosted from the freezer!...
- The panel discuss the latest on Avian flu...
- Terry Flanagan reports on a research project at UCD whereby teams of researchers are planting 'PIZZAS' to help fertilize the soil.
- Eric Dempsey tells the panel about his recent trip to Yellow Stone National Park.
We hear of a problem with bird droppings at the Kilkenny GAA grounds.
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8th October 2005
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- Human skin - just how much of it do we inhale from others?
- The fox with a keen eye for art - Derek & Richard visit an extraordinary installation in the National Portrait Gallery in London where a bank of twenty television monitors chart the progress of BANDIT the Fox as he inspects the masterpieces on display in the Georgian and Tudors rooms.
(RTÉ is not responsible for the content of external websites)
- Reporter Terry Flanagan goes for supper in the Tiernan household in Rathfarnham along with a family of badgers.
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1st October 2005
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Books Mentioned:
- The Earth - An Intimate History by Richard Fortey. (Published by Harper Collins)
- Ireland's Mammals by Juanita Browne. (Published by Browne Books, Kildare (086-3442140))
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SEPTEMBER
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24th September 2005
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- A Mooney Goes Wild special on the Camargue region of France. More information on The Camargue and some photographs of the trip
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17th September 2005
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- Supplements for pets in French hotels!?
- Vet, Andrew Byrne tells us all about the Racoon Dog, the only K9 that hibernates and plays dead
- Terry Flanagan reports from the Marine Institute where he talks with Dr. John Joyce about the Celtic Explorer, a ship that is mapping the Irish Sea Bed.
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10th September 2005
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3rd September 2005
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- Paradoxes: the 40 paradoxes of Zeno.
- Even chickens use the Earth's magnetic field to find their way.
- 70 stone Leatherback turtle released in Kerry.
- Heritage Week
- Otter Walk in Drogheda on Sunday, September 4th.
- Giant tropical elephant grasses are to be planted across large swathes of British countryside under plans to encourage farmers to switch to crops that produce energy rather than food.
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AUGUST
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27th August 2005
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- Dreams: Derek talked to the panel about what dreams could mean, following one of his in which he was throwing water over people, including RTÉ's Director-General!
- Terry Flanagan played a card trick on the panel. Amongst our panel, 3 was the most popular. Apparently, this is usually the most common choice, because it is the only symmetrical one... and in the both the human and animal kingdom, we pick who we breed with based on how symmetrical they are. There is an inbuilt instinct to pick always pick that which is most symmetrical - hence 3 being the post popular pick.
- Éanna described how in Irish feet, the big toe is bigger than the next one in, but in English or Anglo-Saxon feet, it is actually the second toe which is longer than the 'big' one
- Niall Hatch talked to the panel about the increase in threat of Avian Flu.
- After 15 years, Dublin Zoo is sadly saying goodbye to Judy and Kirsty, their Asian elephants, who are packing their trunks and moving off to Germany. But in their place, Dublin Zoo will receive three young female elephants from Rotterdam Zoo, who will hopefully be pregnant when they arrive in Dublin.
- Ed Parnell from BirdLife International told us about Europe's randiest bird which is on the verge of becoming extinct! The male aquatic warbler
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20th August 2005
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- Terry Flanagan told us about the hedgehogs mating in his back garden.
- Shellfish warning in Dingle.
- Listener Dave Egan was fishing in West Cork, and caught some pollack, when he filleted the fish at home, he found tiny brown threadlike worms alive inside the fish, and wondered what they might be.
- Glow-in-the-dark algae: a beautiful phenomenon called dinoflagellates.
- Philip McCabe told us all about Apimondia 2005, which is taking place all this week in Dublin's RDS.
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13th August 2005
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- The impact that cutting down Brazilian rainforests will have on Irish farming.
- Why redheads have greater pain thresholds than those who are not redheads.
- A Galway research project has been given the go-ahead to start selling a biodiesel that is in part used vegetable oil from local restaurants!
- Avian flu in Russian Siberia and the panel discuss whether migration could make it a problem here.
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6th August 2005
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- 60 years on, how the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki also impacted local wildlife
- Derek Mulrooney of the Druids Glen Kingfisher Project, was in studio to give an update.
- House sparrows sharing their food with a peckish mouse... how co-operation can work in nature.
- Terry Flanagan on the trail of a family of sparrowhawks.
- The importance and relevance of red hair in humans and red features in animals.
- Dr. Caitríona Carlin, Vertebrate Advisor with English Nature, talked about the little known black squirrels that can be found in parts of England. Mark Anderson (who is originally from Northumberland but now living in Australia) was so taken with this that he wrote an jig called "The Black Squirrels of Letchworth", which he played for us live from Sydney!
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JULY
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30th July 2005
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23rd July 2005
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- Psycho-kinesis. The panel speak to Uri Geller about Derek's recent trip to Iceland where he
realised that he possesses these powers when he ordered a cup and saucer to move and they did! Was it all in
the mind or had it more to do with the mid-Atlantic ridge? We investigate!
- Jellyfish, the new GREAT WHITE THREAT. Eanna ni Lamhna investigates why there now appears to be an abundance of
man-stinging jellyfish.
Photos
Suggested cures for jellyfish stings
- Dermot Clarke, the 83 year old man who swears that he can teach black birds to sing "Now Your Days Of Philandering Are Over", from the Marriage of Figaro.
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16th July 2005
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- Terry Flanagan travels to Dalkey Island and the Organic Centre
Rossinver, Co Leitrim.
- The panel speak with Dr. Joe Caffrey about alien water weeds.
- We speak to Denis Strong about the new national survey of Atlantic Grey Seals.
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9th July 2005
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- We speak to two members of Bat Conservation Ireland, Tina Aughney and
Conor Kellegher.
- Dick Warner talks to Padraic Whooley of The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group about the whale and dolphin watching
courses he runs on Cape Clear Island.
- Dr.Joe Caffrey talks to our reporter Terry Flanagan about his work in the Central Fisheries Board.
- Eanna Ni Lamhna and Richard Collins are on walkabout at the Environmental Summer School in Lanesboro, Co.Longford.
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2nd July 2005
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- Philip McCabe recounts his attempt to create a new world record by attracting 500,000 bees to himself last week.
- Dr.Tom Hayden of University College Dublin's Zoology department and co-author of Exploring Irish Mammals is in studio to shed some light on urban squirrels.
- We talk to Kevin Flannery, Director of Dingle's Ocean World aquarium and collector of odd fish about the mysteries surrounding conger eels and basking sharks and why he wants people to look out for trigger fish.
- Waterford naturalist Michael O'Meara on dragonflies and damselflies with some speculation on the effects of global warming on the range of various species.
- And our reporter Terry Flanagan interviews John McLoughlin, Chairman of the Tree Council of Ireland on Emo Estate, Co. Laois about a new publication "Champion Trees: A selection of Ireland's Great Trees".
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JUNE
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25th June 2005
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- Terry Flanagan reports on Philip McCabe's attempt to create a new world record and enter the Guinness Book of Records by attracting 500,000 bees to himself.
- An update on the progress of our squirrel survey.
- Eric Dempsey discusses rare vagrant birds with Dr.Richard Collins.
- We speak to Billy Flynn of the Irish Wildlife Trust about his National Lizards Survey.
- We talk to Julian Reynolds of Trinity College Dublin's Zoology department about freshwater crayfish
- Mike Fitzsimons talks about repairing and improving freshwater marine habitats.
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18th June 2005
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- An alleged penguin sighting off Bray head.
- We're on the lookout for grey squirrels all over the country.
- We remember the House Cricket, a species thought to have been ousted from Irish homes because of the demise of the domestic fireplace and improvements in domestic hygiene standards.
- Journalist Amanda Brown gives us an update about the ban on foxhunting in the UK.
- Dick Warner talks about the red-necked phalaropes and also speaks to Dr.Fran Igoe, Sicentific Advisor to the Irish Charr Conservation group about Ireland's endangered freshwater fish.
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11th June 2005
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- The conservation of species that are endangered in Ireland: Dr. Stephen Newton of Birdwatch Ireland and our own Dr. Richard Collins will talk about birds, Terry Flanagan and Ferdia Marnell visit a breeding colony of natterjack toads, Eanna ni Lamnha knows all about creepy-crawlies and Ken Whelan of the Marine Institute and Orri Viglusson of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund talk about salmon conservation in Ireland.
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4th June 2005
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- Terry Flanagan reports on a Natterjack Toad Survey from the Maharees on the Dingle peninsula in Co Kerry.
- Philip Duggan a PhD student in Trinity College tells the listeners about his work on Stoats.
- The Tortoise baby boom at Dublin Zoo.
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MAY
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28th May 2005
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- Ferdia Marnell of the National Parks and Wildlife Service on Lampreys, Natterjack toads and Hares.
- A Non-Invasive Method for Monitoring the Endangered Pine Marten - just one of the treats in store at the 2005 Science & Computing Research Colloquium at IT CARLOW this week!!
- Reporter Terry Flanagan visits Neil and Olive Colin's house in Sandyford to see the family of Great tits that have built their nest in the kitchen extractor fan.
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21st May 2005
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- Richard Collins on Uluru and more from his trip Down Under.
- Dermot O'Neill and Dr. Matthew Jebb a Taxonomist in the National Botanic Gardens will be in studio to discuss the Tecophilaea cyanocrocus a rare plant thought to be extinct.
- Barbara Murphy discusses her experiences in Borneo as a volunteer with the Orangutan Foundation International.
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14th May 2005
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- Mooney Goes Wild celebrates ten years on the air! Producers and contributors from times past, including Dick Warner, Don Conroy, & Tom Cook, are in studio to relive old memories.
- Richard Collins returns from his trip down under just in time to take part in the Dawn Chorus and Eanna Ni Lamhna will be on site in Cuskinny Marsh Nature Reserve in Cobh to update listeners on preparations for the big night/morning ahead.
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7th May 2005
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- The build up to The Dawn Chorus broadcast on May 15th.
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APRIL
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30th April 2005
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23rd April 2005
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- We talk to Kendrew Colhoun of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Northern Ireland about a fascinating project to satellite track Eastern High Arctic Light-bellied Brent Geese (Branta bernicla hrota) from wintering grounds in Ireland to arctic staging and breeding areas.
- Terry Flanagan reports on a day in the life of the DSPCA
- More on the the Irish National Seabed Survey
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16th April 2005
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- The unusual places birds choose to build their nests and the attempts by nature conservationists at Druids Glen Golf Club to encourage the Kingfisher to nest in an artificial river bank.
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9th April 2005
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- Derek and the panel talk to Philip McCabe who will attempt to create a new world record by attracting 500,000 bees to himself on June 25th.
- 'The Went Lecture'. Dr. Ken Whelan gives listeners a preview of his lecture entitled: International Atlantic Salmon Management: a Model for Future Marine Resource Management?
- Terry Flanagan reports from Maureen McGrattan's back garden in Clondalkin where her rabbit 'Jack' chases her dog 'Jill'!
- Lizzie Cant an ecology researcher based at Rothamstead Research in the UK told the panel about her work on tracking butterfly movements using tiny radio transmitters.
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2nd April 2005
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- Eric Dempsey discusses the Tibetan custom of 'Sky burial'.
- The panel talked about global warming and it how it affected the seasons.
- Terry Flanagan interviewed Niall Hatch from BirdWatch Ireland about the value or otherwise of GUANO (bird droppings)
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MARCH
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26th March 2005
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- Terry Flanagan gives us a progress report on Riona the 9 year old female Orangutan in Dublin Zoo who just underwent an operation for peritonitis.
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19th March 2005
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- It's the Mooney Goes Wild Table Quiz. Live from four centres, Dublin, Wexford, Cork and Longford.
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12th March 2005
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- St. Patrick and Snakes. Did he really banish all the serpents from Ireland or where they ever here in the first place?
- Paul Sheridan is a man who suffers from Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) but where does this fear come from?
- Terry Flanagan reports from George Burrows house in Celbridge. George loves snakes. His spare bedroom is full of them.
- BBC Natural History producer, Paul Appleby tells listeners about a symposium he recently attended in California on the Biology of Rattlesnakes
- Vertebrate ecologist with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Ferdia Marnell, talks about his most recent projects. Irish Fairy Trees
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5th March 2005
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FEBRUARY
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26th February 2005
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- David Noble, a listener in Greystones swears that he saw a bumblebee pollinating a flower on Wednesday 23rd February 2005 in the middle of a snow storm.
- Radio producer Teri Garvey poses the question - were frogs (as in the common frog) responsible for the French revolution?
- The pair of Grey Lag Geese that attacked and killed a swan in Wharfemeadows in Yorkshire, England.
Terry Flanagan reports on joint initiative between the school and the recycling plant that have come together to plant more holly trees in Dublin.
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19th February 2005
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- Eanna Ni Lamhna visits Paddy & Ann Mac Ardle in Dundalk to unravel some of the mating mysteries and rituals of
the common Frog (Rana temporaria)
- Vet Andrew Byrne on the roll out of pet passports and the cost of pet travel
- We announce the results of our Dublin Zoo competition and the winners of our Whales & Dolphins DVD.
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12th February 2005
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- We hear from to the Irish man (on holiday in San Diego) who says that Ducks can count!
- 12th February, the anniversary of the birthday in 1809 of Charles Darwin,
has been designated as International Darwin Day. Nigel Monaghan, keeper of
the Natural History Museum in Dublin previews, A special Darwin Day lecture
by Professor James Moore, Harvard University. Entitled: Darwin - A "Devil's
Chaplain"?
- Brenda Donoghue reports live from the Love Trails exhibit at Dublin Zoo.
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5th February 2005
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- Bird brains! New studies show that birds have evolved brains and cognitive abilities comparable to mammals.
- Vet Andrew Byrne explains why the regenerative capacity of mammalian bone is believed to be inversely proportional to the position of the animal on the phyologenetic tree. For example a rodent or bird bone will heal faster than a fox or a dog bone!
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JANUARY
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29th January 2005
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- Global Dimming: A BBC Horizon programme (13/1/05) - revealed for the first time the
devastating affects of a phenomenon that scientists are calling 'global
dimming'. It may already have led to the terrible famine in Ethiopia in the
Eighties and, perhaps even more worryingly, it may have masked the full
effects of global warming. Programme producer David Sington told the Mooney
team about his discoveries.
- Environ 2005: Professor Emer Colleran. (B.Sc., Ph.D.) Chair of
Microbiology, NUI Galway & Director, Environmental Change Institute, NUI,
Galway told the listeners about Environ 2005, Ireland's premier
environmental research forum, (28-30 January) at the Institute of Technology
Sligo, where it was first set up 15 years ago.
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22nd January 2005
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- A listener in Galway wonders if Cork women are a sub-species or are all Irish women the same?
- Terry Flanagan reports on a Black & White photographic exhibition on Gannets in the Dublin Camera Club.
- Richard Collins is at the Wetlands and Wildfowl Trusts site at Castle Espie in Northern Ireland
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15th January 2005
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- Terry Flanagan reports on the Esat BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in the RDS and interviews the 41st Young Scientist of the year.
- Rowan Byrne joins the panel to talk about his time with turtles on the Commonwealth island of Dominica in the West Indies.
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8th January 2005
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- Evelyn Cusack from Met Eireann spoke about the weather.
- Graham Appleton of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) spoke about the importance of ringing birds and told the listeners about the oldest living ringed bird - a Manx Shearwater, ringed in Co. Down.
- Cork Capital of Culture 2005: there were several reports about the flora and fauna of Cork city and county, the wildfowl at Ballintubrid, Fota wildlife park and Cork City Lough all featured.
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1st January 2005
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- The mountain streams of Ireland are home to an extraordinary bird, the Dipper. Mooney Goes Wild travelled to Cork recently and joined the team on a night-time expedition to ring Dippers on the River Stick near Kinsale.
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