check this out:

Sowbugs Eating Strawberries

You might try getting the fruit up off the ground... perhaps with berry baskets upside-down. You might also try sprinkling some Diatomaceous Earth on the ground around the plants -- which messes with the critters undersides. It's not a poison, just uncomfortable. Also, I've found that by going out in the early morning and actually finding and permanently removing the snails and slugs helps immensely.... see other recent posts.

Other strawberry concern: with our low temperatures lately, I spread regular pea gravel around plants in containers, only to read later that it contains a known carcinogen. Is this old news?? It was new to me.

Might be a good idea to ask the commercial growers in the central coast, Oxnard etc. what they do to prevent pests from strawberries. For the large fields, I tink the solarize the fields (cover with plastic to kill any bugs and disease before planting). Then they hae raised mounded rows with plastic covering to keep in heat becasue they start the plants out early for early harvest. it's past prime now here in the southern CA. Sow bugs and pill bugs (arthropods) do eat dead decaying detritus, but would bite into something soft. Slugs are a big culprit too. The raised beds (mounds) and the plastic help the fruit hang down and not have contact with the soil, where the wee beasties are living. Though again, in the commecial fields, the soil was cleased of these pathogens and vectors. I have no idea about the toxicity of pea gravel. I thought they were inert. If they come from the manufacturing of concrete, then they could be tainted with toxic chemcals. Crushed granite is a good replacement for pea gravel. And I'm sure granite is clean.
I don't find diatomacious earth effective against slugs or pill bugs. The fine powder is suppose to finely cut the slugs feet. Problem with this dust is that it blows or washes away. A strip of copper around the plants can keep slugs away. The copper creates an electrical discharge when the slug touches it.
Otherwise, if you don't have pets, use slug an sow-bug bait.

Thanks for the responses!

skrip - good link, thanks. I think I'm going to try a fabric weed barrier or maybe even a plastic barrier under the plants and maybe mound them up a little.

toyo - yes! I definitely should try a copper strip around the bed. That even has some aesthetic appeal :o) I agree that it's probably not JUST the pill bugs because we (like everyone else it seems) have a thriving population of slugs and snails.

westelle - I was curious about the diatomacious earth but maybe shouldn't bother if it disappears too quickly. Though I suppose we won't be having much if any more rain. I'll ask about it at the nursery. I've also read that a container of beer can be alluring to slugs - that sounds fun!

Funny, we have crushed granite around the raised bed bases and the pill bugs seem to enjoy burrowing in it.

Now you have rats and pill bugs. I bet you have a lot of snails too if you look really close. Remember I told you about the rat bars and now you should put them in your attic. W@hen we were redoing our house there was a huge amount of droppings in the attic but that stopped with the bars. I was humane like you and we bought a rat zapper and it did nothing, These guys are the size of rabbits and have lots of babies. Believe me it is better just to get rid of them. Put the snails in a plastic baggie with table salt so their sticky goo doesn't attract the ants, rats, and soon other animals. I gave up on veggies because the Horn Worm was always feasting. BT worked a bit and Seven dust is for veggies. Did the copper bands around my fruit trees but something got past that eventhough they're sharp. The only thing I never tried was society garlic which stinks but looks nice or you can put regular bulbs of garlic in the soil and it also looks nice. Best bet would be to walk your neighborhood and find someone who is doing a great job and take all the hints you can muster. Soon we will be having Raccoons and rabbits than you'll really be in trouble. My neighbor's husband bent long PVC and covered it with fencing to make a tall cage around her tomatoes with a door in front. Anythin's worth a try.

Wow, if my tomatoes start disappearing this summer I'll be REALLY bummed out. I need to take care of the rat/mouse/possum/squirrel/whatever fuzzy critter issue we have in the studio attic now before the veggies start coming. And, oh yes, lots of snails. I picked up copper stripping and slug bait for them :o)

I can't even imagine seeing rats the size of rabbits!! Wow...I bet that would even scare my dog away. Good idea to dispose of the snails/goo so it doesn't attract anything else we don't need in the garden.

And so far nothing has touched our cherries (the tree is netted) nor the apricots - crossing fingers!

Alas! I must confess that even though strawberries are one of my favorite fruits, I've given up on growing them entirely -- they are a high maintenance plant and here (near Oxnard) I'm buying them hours after they were picked.

Something in my gardens is eating my bars of Irish Spring laid on clay pots here and there in the garden but they are not bothering my roses or fruit trees anymore and wouldn't that be great if that worked for you and your strawberries. I had heard that animals think humans are present when they smell the clean scent of the soap and stay out of the garden. It's a cheap try if it works atleast it isn't all that poisonous. When I used to have a veggie garden would put scraps from veggies which when I think back brought goghers and whatever else to ruin my fun besides the Horn Worms which come anyway.

Never heard of putting out pieces of soap, but it definitely sounds like an easy and cheap thing to try :o) Cleaning up the garden area is my first task - I've noticed how much a tidy space can cut down on slugs, earwigs, etc.

I had a similar problems with sowbugs and strawberries in my raised garden this year. Since I only have 3 plants, I was determined to find a simple way to keep my strawberries off the ground. So I stuck plastic forks in the ground to prop the strawberries off the ground. So far, it's worked wonders!

Here is a link that might be useful: Starwberry with Fork

For home gardens, I think the secret is to plant the previous summer. My best and biggest plants are the runners from one of last year's plants. I've picked a couple huge ones so far (the size of a toddler's fist), with no predation, probably because the leaves are so huge and the plants so big that the berries are hidden and not sitting on the soil. Next best are the bare roots I planted in the winter, though some of them have been getting nibbled by critters. Smallest and least healthy are the ones I've carried over from past years, and of those, the ones in containers and in the shadier spots resist predation best.

I'm skeptical about the soap. I lived in an apartment once where I never saw or heard rodents, but once when I returned from a week's vacation, some bars of soap that were stored on a low shelf had been nibbled. Maybe mice that came in under the door? I assume they were attracted by the fat content -- it was probably olive oil soap with lavender, though.

Sandiegosandi, love your forks idea! What a cute way to prop up little strawberries trying so hard to ripen without getting eaten! I may have to try it - I have about a dozen plants so that could end up being a bit of work (and lots of forks or other 'props'), but nothing beats homegrown strawberries. Thanks for sharing & loved the pic.
Devon

I have about 12-15 plants they are in an enclosed area, HA.
the rabbits and squirrels still get in the rabbits dig under the squirrels climb over and the ants have monds of dirt in the crown of the plant along w/the slugs, snails, mellies,and birds I'm lucky to get any berries at all.
BUT, I have found that if I take the berries that are hanging down or out in the open and tuck them back inside the plant so they are off the ground and out of site I get quite a few with slight damage from slugs, bugs, critters.
Also, I put down pine needles and oak leaves which are acid based material which the plants love, it also cuts down on the snails, slugs, meelies problem, I deep water once a week and slight water if it's really hot over 100 degrees. Hope this helps, Good Luck!

Wow! While researching this topic, I came across this article: http://gomestic.com/gardening/strawberries-slugs-and-snails/F

It talks about "companion planting" - plant garlic, rosemary or sage around your strawberries to keep slugs and snails away. This sounds like the very simplest and most useful method I've heard of so far. I am going to buy some garlic tomorrow and simply plant the cloves all around in my strawberry beds. Hope it works!