I personally preferred the first trap as it didn't kill the little fellas, hey! I know I'm a softy.
And, millennia ago, there may have been the equivalent of ancient "
softies" who preferred catch "
the little fellas" live. So they made live catch pottery mouse traps that did just that.
The earliest of these traps are made of pottery and date from the 2nd and 3rd Millenia BC, and they have been recovered from archaeological excavations in Egypt, Cyprus, Syria and Iraq.
Reference:
Read more here (See pottery mouse trap, in top left corner)
Looking at it from a modern commercial standpoint, "softy" is considered "advertiser friendly" which is required if want to make revenue from advertisers.
The above post was posted because it is ancient technology that is millennia older than Otzi the Iceman. While it has been edited to include a viewer discretion caution. There is still no objection to removing that post if it is deemed inappropriate for the forum.