Mouse.

Our friends had lots of suggestions: Find their entryways and pack them with steel wool; sprinkle peppermint around the apartment; get a cat. The last suggestion surely would be the most effective, as cats are much more aggresive predators than mouse traps. Unfortunately, (a) we have pet birds; and (b) I'm violently allergic to cats.

Warning: Horrifying story follows. We did set a trap for the bedroom mouse and caught it overnight. This experience pretty much turned me off to the trap idea.

I woke up the next morning and the trap was gone. Great, I thought: the mice have organized. They carried the trap back to their little mouse laboratory to extract the pastrami in controlled surroundings.

No such luck. I found the trap when I almost stepped on it, six feet away from where it had been set. The trap caught the rodent just above its hind legs, leaving the front two-thirds of it body free, and definitely NOT killing it. The poor critter had dragged itself halfway across the room with its front legs. So much for a clean, quick death.

Dave took it outside and put it out of its misery.

Lesson No. 3: Be prepared to euthanize.

A brick works nicely.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4