Mouse trap designs-part 1

Springloaded-bar mousetrap

The traditional type (illustrated) was invented by Hiram Maxim (who also invented the Maxim gun). It is a simple device with a heavily springloaded bar and a trip to release it. Stereotypically, cheese is placed on the trip as bait, but this does not work well as, in reality, most mice do not like cheese; they will however take other food such as oats, chocolate, bread or meat. Butter or Peanut butter is also quite effective. Some people set out traps unset but baited for a few days so the mice lose their caution around them. This also helps you see which bait your mice like. The spring-loaded bar swings down rapidly and with great force when anything, usually a mouse or a rat, touches the trip. The design is such that the mouse's neck or spinal cord will be broken, or its ribs or skull crushed, by the force of the bar. Rats can easily escape from a mousetrap, so a larger version is used for them.

Glue traps

Glue strip or glue tray devices trap the mouse in a sticky glue; users can free the mice from the glue by applying vegetable oil if they choose to. These types of trap are effective and non-toxic to humans. However, death is much slower than with the traditional type trap, which has prompted animal activists such as PETA to oppose the use of glue traps. Many mice eventually die from exposure, dehydration, starvation, suffocation, or predation, or they are killed by people when the trap is checked. Others die from injuries or blood loss as they try to chew through their own limbs in an attempt to escape. In the UK, glue traps are used only by professional pest controllers. In some jurisdictions there have been proposals to ban glue traps, or to legally restrict their use.

Article sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_trap