Question
We used chicken poop for fertilizer a couple of years ago and WOW do we have nightcrawlers 1/3 of an acre.  They came from everywhere.  Although Sevin seems to be 'an' answer, it seems that hydrated lime will kill them and if we don't kill them our neighbors will kill us.  We have such mounds in our once beautiful yard that you can break your leg walking in the grass now.  We have three dogs who have a dog door.  How will this affect them, how should we apply, what should we use, should it be watered in, and how long before we can open the dog door again.  My husband is a retired landscaper and is very knowledgable but this one has him stumped as well.  We could use slug or grub control, but our problem is too big I think.

Thanks
Kristy

Answer
Hi Kristy;
Well, I don't use lime.
I forget if it makes soil more acid or more alkaline. It has been that many years since I have used it.
I have been on a totally organic program for the last 9 or 10 years, so I don't use any chemicals at all to control anything.
What you need is a nice herd of lizards.
Since I switched to organics, I don';t have army worms, grubs or any of the webworms that used to drop on my head from my trees. I have toads, lizards and grass snakes that eat all that stuff, as well as all the aphids off my roses.
I gardened with chemicals for over 40 years, and we really just didn't have that much information about organics.
I always thought organics meant settling for a meadow like yard, with wild flowers, and living with the weeds, but weeds will not thrive in rich soil, and the organics work round the clock improving and enriching the soil.
I don't have weeds even come up in my yard, but my neighbors do. At least the ones that have not jumped on my organic program.
I don't use a lot of the organic products that are out there available to us.
All I put on my yard until last spring was sugar in the spring and fall. I use baking soda disolved in water to spray my rose bushes for blackspot and the shrubs that are susceptable to mildews etc. It works much better than any of the chemical fungicides I used to use.
I only have to do it when the new growth comes out in the spring, and after our rainy season ( if we get it), when the air is damp and cool enough to promote fungus.
Black spot and fungii is a big problem here in North Texas. We have high humidity, we just don't get enough rain falling on the ground.
I put controling night crawlers i my search engine, and got up a page with a lot of different ideas and suggestions. Find it at

http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/hortiscope/pests/nghtcwlrs.htm

See if some of those suggestions work for you.
Other alternative????
Open a bait shop.LOL
You could see if a local bait shop would like to come out and catch your critters. They should be glad to do it for the added inventory to their store.
Sorry I couldn't offer more help.
The soapy water sounded like it would work, although, I sure couldn't handle the job of gathering them. I can't abide a worm. the treating for grubs also sounded logical, if you want to use chemicals.
Charlotte