Set a liquid ant bait pack (Terro makes them) next to the pot. It's perfectly safe & will only take a day or so to rid the area of ants. Copy/paste to your browser to see: http://www.terro.com/products.php?product=liquid_ant_bait Al

You guys really saved me. I had no idea what was slithering from the earth in the dark of night. I went out at midnight and I was amazed! There must have been hundreds of these slugs on the ground, in the grass and on the privacy fence and I had never seen more thn one or two before this in the yard. I set out beer traps as was suggested, no yeast because we don't bake, and immediately these things came out to feast. Easily caught 50 of them. I periodically checked the plates I set out and dumped them in one bucket and added more beer. However the ones in the bucket started crawling out. Fixed that buy adding a little salt. Does anyone know if they will avoid the beer trap if you add a little salt to it for effect? I think some of them survived after a night of binge drinking and will live to tell the tale! One thing I did find is that the plates need to be slightly in the ground if possible for easier access to the trap.

Birds. They make the V-shaped bites like that when catching the bugs that land on the leaves. Put some cage type protection over them.\ and add some garlic to your soapy spray Normally not any real threat to the plants. Dave

There are two worms that that attack peppers. Most prevalent is Helicoverpa zea ( corn earworm, tomato fruit worm) . Also possible is Zonosemata electa ( pepper maggot) The first can be controlled with Bt. The maggot is best controlled by good sanitation practices, like removal of all damged peppers and keeping the area free of horsenettle Here is a link that might be useful: Pepper maggot