Troubles with Vermin

Last week, as dawn was approaching, and I was letting the dogs out for a pee, I saw a rabbit. It is the first rabbit in my yard that I've seen since I moved in over 2 years ago. The dogs pretty much have kept them at bay, but I guess they are starting to come back at night. Now, I am excited to report (NOT!) that this year, I get to do battle with deer, slugs, AND rabbits. Oh, yippee.

Then, last nite, things took a turn for the worse. What could be worse than deer, rabbits, and slugs, you ask?
RATS. I discovered in my cupboard the other day that a rat had chewed through my tupperware containers, and had been having a party in my flour and sugar. With my new way of eating traditionally, I don't use these products much anymore, otherwise I would have noticed sooner.
The rats have come up from under the house. There is a little hole beside my hot water tank that they can come up through. Last nite, I temporarily blocked the hole with a piece of lumber and a stack of newspapers. I know they can chew through anything, but I thought it might hold them off for one nite.

I was kept awake ALL night by a rat chewing in my wall. I kept going and banging on the wall, hoping to scare it, but it only stopped for a minute or two, then resumed munching and tearing away. The dogs completely ignored it. Maybe they new it was in a place they wouldn't be able to catch it? Who knows.
Anyway, 5 am, and the chewing stops. All becomes quiet and peaceful, and I finally fell asleep.

Only to be wakened and hour or so later by squeaking in the wall. I'm pretty certain that damn rat had a bunch of babies in my wall, and what I heard her doing last nite was building her nest. Crap! So now, not only do I have a rat chewing my walls, and who knows what else, soon I will have a zillion rats chewing my walls!
I can't use poison, for if a dead rat is eaten by a dog, it will either get sick or die, too. I would normally use a humane trap, but I could only find them for mice, not for rats. So, I had to buy a snap trap today. Never used them. I had to get a lesson from some guy in the store, as even the lady at the counter couldn't tell me what to do!
Contrary to popular belief, rat traps aren't that easy to set without getting your fingers snapped off. Took me quite a while to figure it out and bait it with peanut butter. I unblocked the hole in the wall, and put the trap inside.
Now, I wait. I am so excited to think I might actually catch the momma rat. Then, I can look forward to a nest of baby rats rotting in my walls. Frickin' fantastic. I hope you hear the sarcasm dripping from this post...