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Tuesday 13 October 2026
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TRADE WARNING: RODENT CALL-OUTS SPIKE BELOW 10 °C. PEST FIRMS NOW QUOTING 2 TO 3 WEEKS.

Ireland has just had its worst rat and mouse breeding year in living memory, and the next 3 weeks decide whether they winter in your walls or next door's. Here's the €49 mint barrier a retired rat-catcher puts down before the first cold night

Rentokil reports rat callouts up 42% across Ireland in a year, with Dublin up 29% and Cork up 94%. Two mild, wet winters, a bin strike across the water that put rats "the size of cats" on the evening news, and poisons the rats have learned to shrug off have left Ireland with more rodents than the trade has ever counted. As the first cold nights arrive they head indoors, and pest controllers are already quoting 2 to 3 weeks for a visit. We asked a man who spent 33 years catching them for a living what he does at his own house. His answer costs less than 1 callout, and he says it has to be down within the fortnight.
Sarah Whitlock
Home affairs reporter · Dublin · 8 min read · Updated 13 October 2026
fX✉🔗
Crumlin, Dublin 12, 2.14am last October. The photo that started this article, taken by a reader on her phone from the kitchen doorway. Photo: IHJ reader

KEY FACTS

10 °Cthe night temperature below which rats and mice start moving indoors
15 mmthe gap a rat squeezes through, the width of a biro. A mouse needs 6 mm
21 daysfrom a female moving in to her first litter. Mice 19 to 21, rats 21 to 23
2 to 3 wksthe current wait for a pest control visit across most of Ireland this month

It starts with 1 cold night.

Not the frost. Before the frost. The first night in autumn when the thermometer on the garage wall drops under 10, and the warm air leaking out of the gap by the kitchen waste pipe becomes the most interesting thing on the street.

"Every year it's the same week, give or take," says Derek Hollis, who spent 33 years in pest control in Dublin before he retired in 2024. "The first night below 10, the phone starts. By the second week of October I'd have 40 jobs on the board and a 3-week wait. And here's the bit nobody understands. By the time you ring me, she's already nested. You're not keeping her out any more. You're evicting her. And evicting costs 10 times more than keeping out."

Derek has been inside somewhere north of 4,000 Irish homes with rats or mice in them. He asked us not to name the firm. He did agree to show us what he does at his own house every September, and it isn't anything he was paid to do for 33 years.

It's 12 pressed balls of peppermint, lemongrass and rosemary. They cost €49. And he is very clear about when they have to go down.

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MOST READ

1Rat callouts up 42% in a year as mild winters keep them breeding, says Rentokil

2Why the council won't come out for your rats, and who will

3The 6 gaps every pest controller checks first on an Irish semi

4Why the poison in your shed stopped working, according to the scientists who tested the rats

5Met Éireann: 8 to 12 named storms this winter
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1 mouse in August, droppings on her grandson's pillow by October

Derek's sister-in-law Jean is 67 and lives in a terrace in Crumlin. Last August she saw a mouse run along the skirting in the kitchen. Her husband Ray set a trap. They caught it.

"Problem solved," Jean says. "That's what we thought."

By the middle of September she was finding droppings every morning. In the cutlery drawer. Behind the toaster. Under the cushions of the couch.

By the end of September she'd stopped counting.

Then came the morning she rang Derek. Her grandson, who's 6, had stayed the night in the box room. She went in to wake him and found droppings on his pillow. Not near the bed. On the pillow. Where his face had been.

"I've never felt sick like that in my life," she says. "I stood in that doorway and I thought, what kind of granny lets a child sleep in this."

A week later the boy said something Jean took as good news. "Granny, I haven't seen a single mouse!"

Derek's face, when she told him, said otherwise.

"That's the worst thing you can hear in October," he says. "You're not seeing them because they're not coming out any more. They don't need to. They've moved into the wall. They've got a nest in the insulation and a larder in your kitchen. You don't see the ones that have settled in. You hear them, at 2 in the morning."

What "I haven't seen a single mouse" looks like from inside the wall. A nest behind the socket, a litter beside her, a runner on the pipe. Graphic: IHJ
The box room in Crumlin, the morning Jean rang. She took this for Derek before she stripped the bed. Photo: IHJ reader

The worst rodent year the trade has ever seen, and the cold nights haven't even started

Ask anyone who catches rodents for a living and they'll tell you 4 things happened at once.

The winters stopped being winters. A hard frost used to kill off the young and the weak and stop the breeding for 3 months. After 2 of the mildest, wettest winters on record, rats and mice in most of Ireland now breed for 12 months of the year instead of 8 or 9 (1). Rentokil's Irish figures show rat callouts up 42% in a year, up 29% in Dublin and up 94% in Cork, with the mild, wet weather flooding burrows and sewers and pushing rats towards houses (2).

Rat callouts, this year against last. Cork and Dublin are worst, and the whole country is up. Source: Rentokil Ireland, 2025

Across the water, Birmingham showed us what happens next. When the bin strike left rubbish on the streets through 2025, it took weeks, not months, for residents to be filming rats "the size of cats" for the news (3). That wasn't a Birmingham problem. It was a preview of what a food supply does to a population that's already at record numbers.

The poisons stopped working. Researchers at the University of Reading have spent years testing rats for the gene that makes them immune to the common shop-bought poisons. In some areas, every single rat they sampled had it (4). And since 2018 the EU has capped the strength of the poison you can buy in a shop at a fraction of what the trade uses, with the trade itself now told to treat the strong stuff as a last resort (5).

And nobody is coming. Rentokil's own callouts are up 42% in a year (6). The council doesn't do private houses and never did, the HSE only comes out when it's a public health case (7), and the private firms are quoting 2 to 3 weeks.

"People think a rat problem is a dirty-house problem," Derek says. "It's not. It's a warm-house problem. Your house is warm and dry and 10 metres from a drain. That's the whole qualification."

The 6 ways in on an ordinary semi. A rat needs 15 mm. A mouse needs 6. Graphic: IHJ

The 21-day clock

What happens after the first cold night, on the trade's own timings. This is why the window is the next 3 weeks, not November.
  1. Night 1The temperature drops under 10 °C. A female follows the warm air to a gap by the waste pipe under the sink, under the eaves, or round the hole where the boiler flue goes through the wall. She's in before you're asleep.
  2. Day 3She's built a nest in the attic insulation, behind the boiler or inside the couch, within 5 metres of your food. From now she leaves 40 to 80 droppings a night and gnaws whatever's between her and the kitchen: skirting, cables, the back of the cereal cupboard.
  3. Day 21Her first litter. 6 to 12 pups, blind, warm and staying. Now there's a smell, a scratching in the wall at 2am, and a reason for the cat to sit staring at the kickboard.
  4. Week 8Those pups are breeding. By Christmas the count is 30 to 60. By March you don't have a mouse, you have a colony, and the bill is 3 visits at €180 to €450 each, plus the electrician for the cables.
September to December, county by county. By November Dublin, Cork and the midlands are at peak. By December, everywhere is. Graphic: IHJ, based on trade call-out data

"The whole game is the 2 or 3 weeks before night 1," Derek says. "Make the way in smell wrong before she finds it and she goes next door. Miss that window and you're paying me, or someone like me, to take a nest apart in January."

Your warm house is a 5-star maternity ward for mice

Most people think they come in for the warmth. Derek says that's half the story.

"Warmth doesn't just keep them alive. It switches the breeding on. Outside, a cold snap stops a female breeding for weeks. Inside your attic, at 18 or 20 degrees, with the cereal cupboard 4 metres away, she's pregnant again within 2 days of giving birth. A house mouse is 19 to 21 days pregnant, 5 to 8 pups a time, and the daughters are breeding at 6 weeks old. A rat is 21 to 23 days, 6 to 12 a time, breeding at 10 weeks. Do the sums on a piece of paper and you'll stop sleeping."

We did the sums. A single female mouse that comes in during the first cold week of October has, by Christmas, children and grandchildren breeding at the same time in the same wall: 3 generations, 40 to 60 animals. A pair of rats and their descendants, left alone in a warm, dry house with food, run past 1,000 in 12 months (8).

Our sums, on the trade's own breeding timings. 1 in September. 60 by Christmas. Graphic: IHJ

"Your house isn't shelter," Derek says. "It's a 5-star maternity ward. Unlimited food, perfect temperature, no owls, no foxes, no frost. And the one you saw run across the kitchen in August? That was the scout."

Why poison stopped working and traps only make it worse

Here's what Derek watched happen over 3 decades, and what the science now confirms.

  • Shop-bought poison. The Reading team found the resistance gene in most of the rats they tested, and in some areas in all of them (4). The ones that do die die in the wall, and a dead rat in a cavity smells for 2 to 3 weeks and brings flies. And it's the same poison that kills the cat that eats the rat, and the owl after that.
  • Traps. They catch the bold young one on night 2. The mother watches, and from then on the family walks round every trap you set. The trade has a word for it: trap-shy. You've made them cleverer, and they've got your cereal cupboard, so why would they risk a trap?
  • The ultrasonic plug-in. Rats and mice get used to the noise in 3 to 5 days, and it doesn't go through a wall, a cupboard door or the attic floor, which is exactly where they are.
  • The cat. Lovely. Brings them in through the cat flap, alive, as a present.
  • Ringing the council. It doesn't do private houses, and it never did. You get a list of firms and a wait.
  • Sealing the gaps. The right answer, and the one nobody finishes. A 1970s semi has 30 of them and you know about 4. And if she's already in, you've just sealed a breeding female inside your house.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Jean asked him. "Live with them?"

"No," Derek said. "But get this into your head. You can't trap your way out of an October infestation. They breed faster than you can kill. You need something that makes them want to leave. All of them. At the same time. And never come back."

The kitchen drawer in half the houses Derek visited. Poison the rats ignore, traps they walk round, a plug-in they stopped hearing on day 4. Photo: IHJ
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"It's not a dirty-house problem. It's a warm-house problem. Your house is warm and dry and 10 metres from a drain. That's the whole qualification."Derek Hollis, retired pest controller
Derek Hollis, 61, on his own drive in Lucan. 33 years, 4,000 houses, and a roll of copper mesh he still keeps on the garage shelf. Photo: IHJ

Why the trade treats droppings on a pillow as a biohazard

"That's not gross," Derek told Jean when she showed him the photo. "That's a biohazard. Wash everything on 60, and get them out."

He isn't being dramatic. Rats carry the bacteria behind Weil's disease in their urine, and both rats and mice carry salmonella in their droppings; the HSE's advice is to treat any surface they've crossed as contaminated (9). A mouse leaves 50 to 80 droppings and several hundred micro-drops of urine a night, most of them where it feeds: the worktop, the cutlery drawer, the cereal box. And the protein in mouse urine is one of the strongest asthma triggers found inside an Irish home (9). Once it's in the attic insulation, every time the heating comes on, it's in the air.

Then there's the gnawing. A rodent's front teeth never stop growing, so it chews all day to wear them down, and it chews what's warm: the cable behind the cooker, the loom in the attic, the flex behind the boiler. Jean's electrician found the cooker cable stripped to the copper. €200, and a warning about fires that the fire brigade repeats every winter.

By the middle of October, Jean had stopped having the grandchildren to stay. She made excuses. Twice. She stopped eating anything from the cereal cupboard. She woke at 3 with what she calls "phantom flutters" across her feet. Ray was sleeping in the armchair with the light on.

Jean, the morning after the pillow. Ray took this. "I didn't know he had," she says. "That's what it did to me." Photo: IHJ reader

"What kind of granny," she says again, "lets it get to that."

The €720 quote and the piece of paper that replaced it

Jean rang 3 firms. The first could come in 19 days. The second in 3 weeks. The third came the next day, for a €70 survey fee, and quoted €320 for the first visit, 2 follow-ups at €200, and "exclusion work" on top. €720 before the builder. The council doesn't do private houses.

"They're not conning you," Derek told her. "That's what evicting costs. 3 visits, bait, cadavers out of the wall, a lad on a ladder with wire wool. It's the price of being late."

Then he did what he says he did for 33 years, off the record, for families who couldn't afford the job. He wrote on a piece of paper what she needed, and told her to have it in the house within the week.

  • Something that makes them want to leave, so nothing dies in your walls.
  • Something that keeps working for 30 days or more, because there's more than 1 generation in there.
  • 3 oils together, not 1. Peppermint for the nose, lemongrass for the mouth, rosemary for the eyes. "The garden-centre sachet is peppermint on its own and it's gone by Tuesday."
  • Pressed, not soaked. "If you can smell it across the room on day 1 and not at all on day 3, that's cotton wool with oil on it. You want a solid ball that lets go slowly."
  • No poison, no chemicals, so the grandchildren and the dog can be in the house while it works.
  • And it goes down now. "Not after the next dropping. Every day you wait, there's more of them."
The piece of paper, still on Jean's fridge. Photo: IHJ reader

"And 1 more thing," he said. "Put 2 under the bonnet of the Corsa. They chew car wiring every winter because the engine's warm. €450 to €1,500 at the garage, and the insurers see a spike every January (10)."

What a 33-year rat-catcher puts down at his own house every September

Peppermint. Not the €4 sachet from the garden centre that stops smelling on Tuesday. Pressed balls.

The product is called MintGuard, and Derek came across it the way most tradesmen find things, from another tradesman. A younger lad at the firm had started leaving them in the attics he'd treated, "to stop the callback". The callback is the industry's dirty secret: you clear the rats, and 6 weeks later the family rings again, because the way in was never closed and the next female found it.

Each ball is about 20 grams of plant fibre pressed with 3 concentrated essential oils: peppermint, lemongrass and rosemary. The makers call the combination TripleSense, and the name is the science.

A rat has around 1,200 working smell genes. You have about 400 (11). It navigates by nose, finds food by nose, finds its own family by nose. Peppermint's menthol overwhelms that nose completely: in a room that smells of it, she can't smell food, can't smell the trail home, can't smell whether the coast is clear. Lemongrass carries citral, which burns the mouth and the whiskers she uses to feel her way along a wall. Rosemary carries camphor, which stings the eyes.

Nose, mouth, eyes. 3 senses, 1 ball.

The trial behind the blend: time spent in the treated zone dropped to 4%, and the avoidance was still holding at day 45. Photo: IHJ

And here's why she can't get used to it the way she gets used to the ultrasonic plug-in. Noise is learned. This isn't. All 3 oils work on the same raw nerve that makes your eyes water when you cut an onion. You can't get used to an onion. Neither can she.

"To you it smells like the Polo mints in your dad's glovebox for a day or 2, then you stop noticing it," Derek says. "To her it's a wall of fire, and it's still a wall of fire in week 6, because it's pressed, not sprayed on. She turns round and goes next door. Which, I grant you, is not great for next door."

3 oils, 3 senses. A rat smells 1,000 times better than you do. That's the weakness. Graphic: IHJ

It does 1 more thing, and it's the part that took Jean a while to understand. Rats and mice mark every route they use with urine, a scent trail that tells the next one "safe house, food this way". The ball doesn't just drive out the ones that are there. For 30 to 60 days it wipes out the trail, so the new arrivals in November find nothing that says come in. Your house goes invisible.

Where the 12 balls go, car included

1 ball covers roughly 10 square metres, or 1 way in. Derek's own house is a 3-bed semi with a garage, and this is his list, in the order he does it, on a Sunday in the last week of September.

  • Under the kitchen sink, by the waste pipe. The number 1 way in on every house he's ever surveyed.
  • Behind the fridge and behind the cooker. Warm, dark, crumbs. A rat's idea of a hotel.
  • The attic, 1 by the hatch and 1 at each end of the eaves. Insulation is nesting material, and the eaves are the second way in.
  • The garage and the shed. Bird seed, dog food and the bag of compost are a larder.
  • Under the bonnet of the car. Warm engine, soy-based cable insulation, a €450 to €1,500 repair.
  • By the bins and the compost. The front line. Make the food smell wrong before they reach the house.

12 balls. About 20 minutes. They work for 30 to 60 days, then you swap them. 2 packs takes an average house, garage and car to Christmas. 3 sees you to March, when the temperature climbs back over 10 and they go back out to the fields and the drains.

Under Derek's own sink, by the waste pipe. "That gap's the front door. Make the front door smell wrong." Photo: IHJ / D. Hollis

The 2-week test in a Crumlin terrace

Derek didn't set a trap at Jean's. He put 3 balls under the sink, 2 behind the cooker, 3 in the attic, 2 in the yard by the bins, and 2 under the bonnet of the Corsa, and he told her to wipe every dropping up that night so they'd know.

Day 2: 3 fresh droppings, in a corner far from any ball. Usually there'd be 30. Day 5: none. Jean checked everywhere, twice. Day 9: Ray slept in the bed. No scratching. "I lay there listening for it," Jean says, "and it was just quiet. I cried, if I'm honest." Week 6: still nothing, so she swapped the balls. The Halloween mid-term: the grandchildren stayed 3 nights in the box room. March: not a dropping all winter, in a terrace that had 30 a night in September.

Jean's own count, every morning with a torch. 30 on day 0. 3 on day 2. Nothing from day 5. Graphic: IHJ

Last week her neighbour knocked. "I hate to ask, but we've had them since August. How did you get rid of yours?" Jean told her. 2 days later, a text: "Ordered 3. Why does nobody tell you about this?"

Why nobody in the trade will tell you this

We put that question to Derek, and he gave the answer a man can only give once he's retired.

"A callout is €180 to €450. The average job is 3 visits. And the good money is the quarterly monitoring contract, €45 or €55 a month, for ever, to check bait boxes. If I sell you a €49 box that stops the callback, I've made €49 once. If I sell you exclusion work plus monitoring, that family's worth €3,000 to me over 5 years. The trade knows plant repellents work. Farmers have used them for decades. There's just no living in them for us."

"I'm not in the trade any more. So I'll say it. Put the balls down before the first cold night and you'll never need my number."

The cost of MintGuard against the cost of waiting

What you do this autumn
What it costs
What you get
Shop-bought poison
€14 a box, and the cat
Rats that ignore it, or die in the wall
Traps
€17, and your evenings
The bold young one, then a trap-shy family
Ultrasonic plug-in
€29
3 to 5 days, then nothing
Private firm, 3 visits
€320 + €200 + €200, in 3 weeks
Eviction, cadavers, and a callback in 6 weeks
Wait for the council
Nothing: it doesn't do houses
A list of firms and a wait
MintGuard down before night 1
€49, today
They go next door instead

In the shops, a branded 4-pouch peppermint repellent is €20 to €28 for 4 weeks. MintGuard is 12 balls, 30 to 60 days each, sold direct, and the launch price is €49 instead of €98. That's less than a tenth of the quote Jean got, and it arrives in 2 to 5 days, not 3 weeks.
WHERE TO GET IT

Direct from the maker: 50% off the first 500 packs

€49€98

12 balls, 30 to 60 days each. First 500 packs at €49, then €59. 2 packs for €79 takes a house, garage and car to Christmas. 3 for €99 sees you to March.

90-day money-back guarantee. Dispatched within 24 hours, tracked delivery in 2 to 5 days anywhere in Ireland. Order today and it's down before the first cold night.

GET MINTGUARD FOR €49 (50% OFF)
Down before night 1 · 90-day money-back
UPDATE, 13 October 2026: the first nights below 10 °C are forecast for most of Ireland within the next 2 weeks. Of the 500 launch packs at €49, 273 are left. When they're gone the price goes to €59 until March, and any order after the first cold night is an eviction, not a barrier. Orders placed today go out within 24 hours.

2 Octobers

You close this page

The first cold night comes. She's in by the waste pipe before you're asleep. Day 21, the first litter. By Halloween, the scratching. By Christmas, 30 to 60 in the wall, the grandchildren's visit cancelled, the electrician out for the cooker cable, and a firm quoting €720 and 3 weeks. Or worse: you try poison, and it's the dog. Or 1 dies in the wall and you smell it until February.
You put 12 balls down this weekend

It arrives in 2 to 5 days. 20 minutes on a Sunday: sink, cooker, attic, garage, car, bins. The first cold night comes. She follows the warm air to the gap, meets a wall of fire, and goes next door. No droppings. No scratching. No callout. You swap the balls at Christmas, and again in February, and in March you've spent €99 on a winter that would have cost you €720 and your sleep.

The questions readers keep asking

I've tried peppermint. It didn't work.You tried a sachet, or cotton wool with oil on it. Both are peppermint on its own, and both are gone in 48 to 72 hours, which is why she was back on Thursday. MintGuard is 3 oils, on 3 senses, pressed into a solid ball that releases for 30 to 60 days. That's Derek's whole checklist, and it's the difference.
Will the house smell of it?Like a packet of mints, for a day or 2, then you stop noticing. It isn't a spray and it isn't overpowering. Her nose is 1,000 times more sensitive than yours. That's the point.
Is it safe with the grandchildren and the dog?It's plant oils pressed into fibre. No poison, no chemicals, no trap, nothing that snaps and nothing that dies. Keep it out of reach like any household product, and don't put it where a pet can chew it, and the house is safer with it than with a bait box under the sink.
Does it work on rats, or just mice?Both. A rat's nose is every bit as sensitive as a mouse's, and it's the same 3 nerves. Derek's work was 70% rats.
They're already in. Is it too late?No. This is the one method where nothing has to die, so it works on a colony as well as a scout. Double up: 2 balls at each problem spot, the attic, the sink and the cooker first, and take the 2 or 3 pack. Expect the droppings to stop within 3 to 10 days, and keep the balls fresh for the rest of the winter so the trail stays wiped.
How many do I need, and how long do they last?1 ball per room or per way in. 12 does an average house, garage and car. Each ball works for 30 to 60 days, then you swap it. 2 packs to Christmas, 3 to March.
What if it doesn't work for me?You've got 90 days. If the droppings don't stop, or you simply change your mind, send it back for a full refund, return label included.
When does it arrive?Orders go out within 24 hours and arrive by tracked delivery in 2 to 5 working days anywhere in Ireland. Order today and it's down before the first cold night. A pest control firm, right now, is 2 to 3 weeks.

Comments (63)

Sorted by most liked
MP

Margaret P. · Cork · 2 days ago

Put 12 down on the Sunday after reading this. We'd had droppings under the sink every morning since the clocks changed last year. Wednesday: nothing. It's now day 9 and I've checked with a torch like a mad woman. Nothing. The house smelt of mints for a day and that was it.

Reply👍 148
DK

Dave K. · Limerick · 2 days ago

Sceptic here. Peppermint oil is the oldest trick in the book and I've had cotton wool balls in the attic that did nothing. Bought 1 pack to prove it wrong. Attic's been silent 6 nights. I'll eat my words when I've done a month, but I've ordered the 3.

Reply👍 121
DH

Derek H. Featured in article · 1 day ago

Dave, the cotton wool is the giveaway. Smell it on day 3. If you can't, neither can she. That's why yours did nothing. Pressed is the whole trick.

Reply👍 96
CP

Carol P. · Galway · 1 day ago

The car bit is real. Mine had €1,000 of chewed wiring last January and the garage said "mice, they love a warm engine". 2 under the bonnet since Saturday, the rest round the house. Wish I'd known about the bonnet last year.

Reply👍 87
TB

Tony B. · Drogheda · 1 day ago

Rang the council in August. "We don't do that, here's a list of private firms." First one could come on the 9th of October. I'm 71 and I'm not living with rats for a month waiting for a van. Ordered 2 packs, arrived Tuesday.

Reply👍 79
LW

Linda W. · Waterford · 18 hours ago

Ordered 3. 1 for me, 1 for Mam who's 88 and won't have "the man" in the house, 1 for my sister who's still pretending she hasn't got them. Nobody tells you the sachet is a waste of money until you read something like this.

Reply👍 64
JS

June S. · Kilkenny · 14 hours ago

The bit about "you don't see the ones that have settled in" is exactly what happened to us last winter. Went quiet in October, then scratching every night from November and a €650 bill in January. Not doing that again. Down since Monday.

Reply👍 58
GH

Gordon H. · Dublin · 9 hours ago

Does the 12-pack do an apartment? 2 bedrooms, kitchen, behind the fridge where they come in from the bin store.

Reply👍 22
MP

Margaret P. · 7 hours ago

Gordon, 1 pack did my whole 3-bed and the garage with 2 spare. An apartment is 6 or 7 balls. Put 2 by the bin store door.

Reply👍 31

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Sources: (1) Irish Pest Control Association, winter rodent guidance and trade commentary on mild winters and year-round breeding. (2) Rentokil Ireland, rodent activity figures, January 2025 against January 2024: rat activity up 42% nationwide, Dublin up 29%, Cork up 94%. (3) UK press coverage of the Birmingham bin strike, 2025. (4) University of Reading, Vertebrate Pests Unit, mapping of anticoagulant resistance in rats. (5) EU Biocidal Products Regulation changes to amateur-use rodenticides, in force since March 2018, and the CRRU Ireland Code of Best Practice. (6) Rentokil Ireland callout data, 2024 to 2025. (7) Local authority and HSE public information on responsibility for rodent control in private dwellings. (8) Trade arithmetic on reproduction: house mouse gestation 19 to 21 days, 5 to 8 per litter, sexual maturity 6 weeks; brown rat 21 to 23 days, 6 to 12 per litter. (9) HSE and HPSC guidance on leptospirosis (Weil's disease) and salmonella; Asthma Society of Ireland on rodent allergens in the home. (10) Insurer and repair-trade commentary on gnawed vehicle wiring claims in winter. (11) Comparative counts of functional olfactory receptor genes, rodents against humans. Manufacturer specification for MintGuard.
This page is a paid advertorial for MintGuard, and The Irish Home Journal is a publication of the advertiser. The account above is a dramatisation based on the experiences of MintGuard customers and retired pest control professionals; names, places and some details have been changed, and the people quoted are paid contributors who are not affiliated with, employed by or endorsed by the HSE, Rentokil, the Irish Pest Control Association, the University of Reading, Met Éireann or any local authority. Statistics are quoted from the public sources listed above and were correct at the time of writing. MintGuard is a plant-oil repellent intended to deter rodents from treated areas; it does not kill rodents, results depend on the size of the infestation, the number of balls used and the building, and an established infestation may still need professional treatment. Keep out of reach of children and pets and follow the instructions supplied. Customer comments reflect individual experiences and are not a guarantee of results.

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ADVERTISING DISCLOSURE: This website and the products & services referred to on the site are advertising marketplaces. This website is an advertisement and not a news publication. Any photographs of persons used on this site are models. The owner of this site and of the products and services referred to on this site only provides a service where consumers can obtain and compare

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THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE, BLOG, OR CONSUMER PROTECTION UPDATE

ADVERTISING DISCLOSURE: This website and the products & services referred to on the site are advertising marketplaces. This website is an advertisement and not a news publication. Any photographs of persons used on this site are models. The owner of this site and of the products and services referred to on this site only provides a service where consumers can obtain and compare

 

CONTENT DISCLOSURE: This article — including the story, images and quotes, — was created or enhanced using AI and is for illustrative purposes only.

Advertorial

New ‘Bank Card Thin’ Wallet Tracker Finally Goes on Sale In the UK — But Is It Actually Any Good?

14th August 2026| by Mike Odwell | Advertorial

This new tracker finds your wallet from your phone, can ring when it’s lost, and alerts you if you leave it behind. It even has RFID protection for your bank cards. Now 46% OFF in the UK — but is it really as good as they say?

Trackers are brilliant. 

They can help you find your lost keys, bags, etc and even recover stolen belongings from thieves.

But there’s always been one big problem:

All the trackers on the market are too bulky to fit inside a wallet.

Now there’s a genius new model in the UK that solves that problem completely.

It looks just like a bank card, slips flat into your wallet, and lets you track it from your phone.

But how good is it really? 

What Is It Called?

It’s called ONDRELA.

In short, everyone should have this in their wallet.

It’s easily one of the best gadgets I’ve tested this year.

Just a couple of years ago, this technology was reserved for spies, with agencies like the CIA and MI6 using it to track their agents and valuable assets.

Now you can use the same ultra-thin GPS technology to never lose your wallet again — and even find your wallet in seconds when it goes missing at home.

It instantly converts any wallet into an unloseable 'smart' wallet you can track worldwide from your phone.

Finally, a Tracker That Actually Fits In Your Wallet

This is what makes ONDRELA so clever.

Unlike bulky AirTag-style trackers, its ultra-thin design slides completely flat inside almost any wallet.

No keyrings. No bulges. Just invisible protection you barely notice is there.

How Does It Work?

Put an Ondrela tracker card in your wallet, passport cover, document folder, wherever you need something protected, and pair it with your phone in seconds.

Lose your wallet? Your phone can show you where your valuables were last detected and show you a live pin on a map. 

Lost it at home? Press a button and make the Ondrela ring.

It’s extremely easy to set up and use.

It Warns You Before You Leave Your Wallet Behind

If you leave your wallet on a restaurant table, shop counter or in an uber, the Ondrela tracker notices when you move too far away.

Instead of realising hours later, when it's too late, your phone sends you an instant separation warning, giving you a chance to go straight back for it.

No panic. No cancelling cards. No retracing your entire day.

Just turn around and collect it.

It’s a simple feature, but probably the one that will save you most often.

Never Forget Your Wallet at Home Again

Occasionally leave home without your wallet?

Ondrela will alert you before you get to the end of your front garden.

It’s like having an automatic wallet reminder.

Built-In RFID Protection

Contactless card theft has become more common in the UK.

Criminals can steal your card details without even taking your card.

By holding a scanner close to your wallet, they can also make contactless charges of up to £200 from your cards.

But Ondrela has built-in RFID protection that blocks these illegal scanning devices and protects the cards inside your wallet.

Works with Both iPhones and Android

How the tracker works is extremely smart.

It sends its exact location through any phone that's nearby, to your phone.

It's all done behind the scenes; nobody else can see this apart from you.

Apple AirTags only send their location through nearby iPhones.

However, Ondrela is better because it can quietly ping its location through both iPhone and Android phones, giving you far more chances to find your wallet.

What Else Does the Ondrela Tracker Do? 

✅ Worldwide Tracking — See where your wallet is from your phone, even when it’s far away.

✅ iPhone + Android Network — Uses nearby phones from both networks to help update its location.

✅ Make It Ring — Find your wallet fast when it’s lost somewhere around the house.

✅ Separation Alerts — Get warned if you accidentally walk away without your wallet.

✅ Leaving-Home Reminder — Helps stop you heading out without your wallet in the first place.

✅ RFID Protection — Helps block contactless card scanning and protects the cards inside.

✅ Bank-Card Thin — Slips flat inside almost any wallet without adding bulk.

✅ 6-Month Battery — Long battery life means far fewer annoying recharges.

✅ No Monthly Fees — Buy it once and use it without paying a subscription.

✅ Waterproof — Built to handle rain, splashes and everyday accidents.

✅ Easy to Set Up — Pair Ondrela with your phone in just a few simple steps.

✅ Protect More Than Your Wallet — Use it in passport covers, bags, luggage or document folders.

✅ Hidden From Thieves — Looks like an ordinary bank card, so it’s far less obvious than a round tracker.

Most trackers force you to choose between Apple and Android.

Ondrela connects to both networks, giving you far wider coverage and making it ideal for mixed-phone households.

Most round trackers are bulky and obvious. Ondrela is thin enough to hide inside a wallet or behind a phone case, where thieves never know it is there.

And unlike trackers that charge ongoing fees, ONDRELA has no monthly subscription.

How Much Does it Cost?

With all its features, positive reviews and build quality, you would expect it to cost between £100-129+.

Surprisingly, a single Ondrela tracker costs just £83, which is below our expected guess. 

HOWEVER, do you know what's better than paying the already good full £83 price?

Our 46% readers discount, where you can order yours for just £45.

* First 50 reader orders ONLY.

Click here to see the Ondrela promotion (if it's still live) »

Why the Ondrela is a Smart Investment

A lost or stolen wallet can become far more expensive than the wallet itself.

In fact, one reason Ondrela has become so popular in the UK is the worldwide rise in identity fraud, where victims can be defrauded out of tens of thousands after criminals get hold of their details and take out dozens of high-interest loans in your name...

A single Ondrela tracker costs £83 / £45 and gives you peace of mind and protection.

In fact, I'd pay £100+ for it! 

Click here to see the Ondrela promotion (if it's still live) »

Why the Current Discount?

We contacted Ondrela to see if they could get a discount for our readers.

They agreed to an exclusive 46% discount for our readers!

The catch is, the discount link is only for the first 50 reader orders!

If you can still see the discounted price when you click the links below checkout quickly to avoid missing out! 

Click here to see the Ondrela promotion (if it's still live) »

Are there any Downsides? 

Of course, no product is perfect!

Only comes in gold or silver.

Ondrela could be difficult to get hold of in the UK until next year due to high demand.

You will still be able to order from the US, but you'll be paying £159+ when you include shipping and taxes etc. 

Conclusion: Should You Buy ONDRELA?

In a word, ABSOLUTELY.

If you’re always misplacing your wallet, forgetting it when you leave home, or worrying about losing it while you’re out, Ondrela solves those problems.

It’s thin, easy to use, works with iPhone and Android, and at the current discounted price, it’s excellent value.

If the UK offer is still live, I’d grab one before the discounted stock is gone.

Where Can I Order My ONDRELA Tracker?

Ondrela is NOT on Amazon, Argos or other retailers.

You Can Only Order the ONDRELA 46% Off from their discount site here >>

SALE UPDATE: Reader Discount is Limited

This discount is limited to the first 50 orders only.

If the discount is still live when you click through add to cart and check out quickly to avoid losing your discount.

Once it ends, it's over, and unfortunately there’s nothing we can do to help!

Click here to get - 46% Off Your Ondrela »