Panel: Eric Dempsey & Niall Hatch

Interviewer: Éanna Ní Lamhna

Reporter: Terry Flanagan

In addition to listening to us on RTÉ Radio One at 22:00 every Monday night, don't forget that you can also listen back to each of our programmes any time you like at www.rte.ie/mooney. There, you will find an extensive archive of past broadcasts, conveniently split into different topics and segments.

Tonight’s programme features a report from the University of Galway about the planting of its new 100m2 native woodland on campus, carried out as part of the Pocket Forests not-for-profit social enterprise. In order to help you learn more about this fantastic initiative, which aims to restore habitats and biodiversity across Ireland, our suggestion this week from the extensive Mooney Goes Wild archives is a segment we first broadcast in November 2022. In it, researcher John Bela Reilly speaks to Catherine Cleary, co-founder of Pocket Forests, about the organisation’s aims and plans.

To listen to this segment from the Mooney Goes Wild archives, visit https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/22174542-pocket-forests/

Drumming duets in the Garden County

For a very long time, Ireland was famous amongst ornithologists across the world for the fact that it had no woodpeckers. This was a rather curious state of affairs, as woodpeckers are one of the most successful bird families on the planet and occur across much of the globe, with several species being common in pretty much every other part of Europe, including our nearest neighbour, Britain.

That all changed 20 years ago, when small populations of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Europe’s most common and widespread woodpecker species, began a natural colonisation of our island. Some birds flew across the sea from Scotland to Co. Down, while others did so from Wales to Co. Wicklow. Since then, the species has continued to increase in both number and range, and it seems certain that these remarkable birds are now here to stay.

Wicklow resident Eric Dempsey has had the pleasure of seeing Great Spotted Woodpeckers in his garden for several years now, even occasionally hearing one "drumming": the name given to the extremely rapid series of loud taps that serves as a woodpecker’s territorial "song", their beaks repeatedly hitting resonant branches or tree trunks at supersonic speed. However, recently Eric heard – and recorded – two woodpeckers drumming in a sort of duet: a male and female making their amorous intentions clear to each other at the start of the breeding season. On tonight’s programme, Eric and his fellow Wicklow resident Niall Hatch tell us more.

For more information about Great Spotted Woodpeckers in Ireland, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/great-spotted-woodpecker/

Doctors by Nature

Long, long before the dawn of modern medicine, many wild animals were harnessing the power of nature’s pharmacy to heal themselves, something that our own human ancestors must also have learned to do. In his fascinating new book Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes and Other Animals Heal Themselves, author Jaap de Roode, the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Biology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and Director of that institution’s Infectious Diseases across Scales training programme, argues that we have underestimated the healing potential of nature for too long.

Drawing on illuminating interviews with leading scientists from around the globe, as well as his own pioneering research on Monarch butterflies, Jaap demonstrates how animals of all kinds—from ants to apes, from bees to bears, and from cats to caterpillars—use various forms of medicine to treat their own ailments. On tonight’s programme, he speaks to Éanna Ní Lamhna about his book and how the study of self-medicating animals could impact the practice of human medicine.

Eric and Niall also discuss some more examples of wild animals utilising the healing power of nature’s bounty, from South American parrots deliberately ingesting clay in order to purge toxins from their bodies, to nursing lemur mothers in Madagascar eating specific plants to help boost their milk production.

For more information about Jaap de Roode’s book Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes and Other Animals Heal Themselves, visit https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691239248/doctors-by-nature

A Tale of Dandelions and Guinea Pigs

Regular listeners to Mooney Goes Wild will know that our roving reporter Terry Flanagan is a mine of information about plants and animals, always ready to share interesting, quirky and sometimes downright bizarre natural history facts. On tonight’s programme, for example, he tells us about one of Ireland’s most abundant and best-known plants, the dandelion, and the surprising benefits it brings to Guinea Pigs.

Like humans, but unlike most other mammals, these cute, domesticated rodents, which are descended from wild species which are native to South America, are unable to synthesise vitamin C in their bodies. This means that, again just like us, they need to obtain this vital nutrient from their diets. We might drink orange juice, eat broccoli or take a tablet, but Guinea Pig owners can simply feed their pets good old dandelions, another fantastic natural source of vitamin C.

For more information about the importance of vitamin C in the diets of Guinea Pigs, visit https://www.langfordvets.co.uk/animal-insights/guinea-pigs/importance-of-vitamin-c-in-guinea-pigs/

Pocket Forests at the University of Galway

Recently, the University of Galway launched its Pocket Forest project, which has involved the planting of a new 100m2 native woodland on campus. Led by the Pocket Forests social enterprise, this mini-woodland was created by a team made up of university staff and students, Transition Year students from Coláiste Muire Máthair, community volunteers and Brendan Smith from Terryland Forest Park.

As part of this project, more than 200 saplings were sourced from the Pocket Forests nursery in Shelton Abbey Open Prison, which enables prisoners to learn about growing and caring for native trees, giving them a role in climate and biodiversity actions.

According to Prof. Frances Fahy, Professor of Geography and Director of the Ryan Institute at the University of Galway, "The University of Galway Pocket Forest is a fantastic example of how we can integrate biodiversity conservation, wellbeing and environmental education. By planting native species at the heart of our campus, it enhances biodiversity while providing a peaceful environment for students and staff. This initiative shows that by making use of the small pockets of space around us, we can all contribute to tackling the ecological crisis."

Recently, our roving reporter Terry Flanagan visited the University of Galway campus and met up with Dr. Caitriona Carolan, ecologist and Lecturer in Environmental Science and Biodiversity, who explained the concept of the institution’s first pocket forest and its plans for the future.

For more information about the new Pocket Forest at the University of Galway, visit https://www.universityofgalway.ie/about-us/news-and-events/news-archive/2025/february/university-of-galway-plants-pocket-forest-woodland-1.html

Nesting Season special: Easter Monday, 21st April 2025

No doubt you will have noticed that the birds are getting louder and louder each morning, and you may even have seen some flying around with sticks in their beaks. These are sure signs that the avian nesting season is almost upon us, and very soon millions of eggs will have been laid in millions of nests the length and breadth of the country.

It’s one of our favourite times of year here at Mooney Goes Wild, which is why on Easter Monday, 21st April 2025 we will be bringing you a special two-hour Nesting Season special. Derek Mooney and his panel of ornithological experts will be broadcasting live on RTÉ Radio One between 09:00 and 11:00 to tell you all about what the birds are up to, including the different nesting strategies they use, how they create their eggs and how they care for their chicks. Be sure not to miss it!

For more information about the nesting season for birds in Ireland, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/from-early-birds-to-late-bloomers/