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I had to deal with a mouse in my house at one point. Let me tell you, yeah, you want to be humane and nice and all that, but rest assured, that mouse is doing what he does with no regard for you. You can argue that he's just acting in his nature, but when you find piles of mouse shit, stained carpets, and chewed up papers, it's time to draw the line.
I have used sticky traps, traditional mousetraps, and homemade contraptions. You definitely need to check the traps regularly. I saw a mouse get caught on a sticky trap. It scurried quickly across the ground, took about 3 steps on the trap and realized it was screwed. In trying to free itself, it just made things worse. I ended up taking the mouse outside and killing it. On another sticky trap, I had been lax in checking it, and when I checked on the trap, I saw bits of fur and blood on the trap. The mouse had obviously learned its lesson and the sticky traps were of no use anymore.
When I finally resorted to the traditional mousetrap, I took my friend's advice and used peanut butter. The peanut butter sticks a little better to the mouse and the trap and makes the trap more likely to go off. That finally got the mouse.
Now let me tell you about this mouse. My friends have seen this mouse over a few years and used to call it Rambo. This mouse was brazen enough to climb up onto our kitchen counter top, scurry around for a few minutes, jump off the counter top and, as my friend describes it, give him the finger while running away to his mouse hole by the stove.
The other problem with the mice if you don't take care of them immediately is the reproduction. Yeah, you've killed him, but his children will haunt you equally. In addition, everytime it starts to rain, you have to wonder if more mice are seeking refuge in your home.
The advice about the steel wool is handy. Preventive measures are usually less costly and ghastly.
Your roommate may think that the mouse has a right to life, but you're equally entitled to a life free from things like Hanta virus.
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