Slugs

We've had some really good rains lately. This is great for my newly planted seeds and my water bill BUT, great conditions for slugs and snails. I noticed some holes in my bean seeds last week and upon closer inspection today, I've got slugs. I went out and hand-picked off the ones I could see. I also put out some "shelters" (pieces of wood) that I'll turn over in the morning and gleefully squish all the slugs underneath. I read that putting copper sheeting around the edges of the raised beds will keep them away. This seems expensive and rather work intensive so here are a couple of other solutions.

Also from http://www.livingwithbugs.com/slug_bt.html
Beer-baited slug traps

There are many versions of homemade beer traps. The simplest is a shallow pan or plastic food container filled with an inch or two of cheap beer (old, stale beer works great). Bury the container so the lip is at about ground level so that slugs and snails can easily crawl into the trap. Suspend a cover that protects the beer but allows slugs and snails to enter. They will be attracted to the odor and fall into the beer and die. Empty the trap every day or two. Don't put dead slugs into the compost bin because they will rot and smell bad.

OR

Iron-phosphate based slug baits.

Both of these are harmless-to-human methods for attracting and disposing of slugs. I'll put out beer baits tomorrow and perhaps purchase some iron-phosphate base.

I also read in Rodale's Vegetable Garden Problem Solver (ISBN 978-1594863080) that coffee grounds spread around the soil will repel them. Apparently a 1% solution of caffeine will kill the guys. Also spreading "sticky" items on the soil will deter them - things such as pine needles. The problem is that these items are less sticky when wet and of course it's wet right now so it probably wouldn't work.