From what you said about them wiggling some much I would venture to say that you have some african nightcrawlers. They love rotting leaves and yard waste. They wiggle so much that they even break in two sometimes. They should do fine in the boarded up compost pile. (if it doesn't heat up to much).

Actually, you will probably find those worms anywhere you leave organic matter on the ground to help keep it moist. I used to find them on the concrete where the wood mulch would wash after a rain. When disturbed they would bounce around like they were on a hot skillet. Anyway, you can probably greatly improve you sugar sand soil by keeping everything mulched. I sprinkled compost and cornmeal under my citrus trees and covered with a very thin layer of wood chips and now there are worms there. I have very sandy soil too.
You might have difficulty finding the worms again when you want them, life usually seems to work that way. You probably don't need to board up the compost pile, the worms can live in it as is. You are not likely to keep worms from escaping if they want to. You are more likely to entice them to stay somewhere by providing the conditions they like. Perhaps recreate the conditions under which you found them, (I know, easier said than done.)

In any case, your goal is to improve you soil, spreading mulch in your gardens is going to be your best bet. I would probably do shredded paper with leaves on top to make it look prettier. Another option is to build lasagna beds. Lay down wet mats of newspaper or cardboard and cover that with layers of moist organic matter. You can let those age or plant small plants right in the layers. the worms will likely come up from under to enjoy the moist food rich conditions. Worms natural food source is leaf litter but stuff that gets broken down by bacteria quicker are favorites since what worms actually do is slurp up the bacteria that is breaking down the organic matter.

Oh, and if you want to buy some worms, don't let the lack of local suppliers stop you. There are mail order companies that can get a box of live worms to you in short order.

Here is a link that might be useful: Where I got my worms

Thanks you two. I looked on the internet for worms with the idea of supplimenting my income with them about 4 years ago. At that time, there were not nearly as many ads and information about worms as there are now. I do think that at that time I could not find any plain old red wigglers and I did buy several containers of about 2 dozen each of African nightcrawlers. And I did turn them loose in my compost pile to see what would happen. And I just forgot about them. I figured they would die because I had always heard that the African Nightcrawlers did not do well in the warmer weather down here. TODAY, I finally learned that they are basically the same worms as red wigglers...only larger because they eat better as domestic
condition have encouraged bigger and healthier...like people, I guess.

I do have newspapers that I can put on the ground. And I have leaves from my neighborhood which I collected last winter and kept in black plastic bags, planning to cover my tender plants and compost my yard...but, as I said, I got a case of the shingles and it has really put kinks in my plans and activities. I appreciate learning that I can do the lasagna thingy and put small cuttings or plants in it to start. I can see that with enough worms, they won't burn up first. I will try that this winter ( which hit today!) But, as I wrestled with the huge bags of leaves and debris that my neighbors scrapped off their yards last winter, I wondered if I could wet down the leaves inside the bags and throw in a thousand worms and get a bag of worms by next summer? I can stack the bags where they won't get hot or burn and the cats have already punched enough ventalation holes in the sides...Wouldn't that make me a bag of compost eventually? And wouldn't that make a nice place for the worms to build a much larger family? I love worms. Always have. =o)

I'm not sure how great a home the black plastic bag of leaves would make for the worms but I suppose if they don't like it they will leave by the holes. If you try it, let us know how many worms you find in the bag in the spring.

African night crawlers are a different species than the smaller red wrigglers. Actually there are several species of worms that people call red wrigglers, or red worms. Many worm sellers will sell "bed run" which is usually at least two or three different species of worms, that way there is a wider range of conditions where at least one type of worms will do well for you. The company I got my worms from sell Eisendia Fetida and Lumbricus Rubellus and perhaps there was even a third type in my batch.

"bed run" should only refer to the various sizes of worms at different ages and should not have anything to do with different types of worms in a bed.

Again, I thank you two for your input. I have begun to do some research based on the things you guys had to say here and I am becomming very excited about the possibilities and potentials I have in my present situation! I also followed that link you gave me, tclynx, and found the most remarkable articles down at the bottom of the page called THE BURROW. It has the story of a guy's experiments with his worms and his findings, which already gives me some understanding of why I may have all these worms after all. I am also getting a feel that it isn't brain surgury and that I can actually improve my overall soil condition while getting rid of my little bit of food scraps. This is exciting!
I also located pictures of what other people are doing to make their worm beds, plus, I lurked through all the things I could find in the forum and I have a much better idea of what a bed of worms consists of. It seems that any bed I can build for plants is potential as a worm bed as well. Also, plank pathways with leaf debris or shredded paper as a base will also encourage the worms as that is what they were doing when I found them, laying under stuff.
I think I am going to purchase one of the containers / or perhaps make my own container and do some real experimenting. But, now I know that I can keep them outside...and if they don't have enough food with shredded paper and leaf fall and downed rotting trees...then they never will have enough food.
I will keep that bag of leaves and test for worms in the spring. I think that the worms may have crawled in there by themselves already and I will report what I find. I also wondered if I could put bedding in a gallon plastic milk carton, punch holes in it all over, keep it damp and throw in 3 pairs of worms to see if I can get a carton of soil and a bunch of worms. I actually fixed up that experiment about a week before joining the forum and I dated the milk carton. I just had to know what is possible as my main interest started out being plants.
Again, it is appreciated greatly that you both have responded. I can't tell the difference between species or breeds of worms and may never be able to, but as long as they eat until my soil is beautiful, that is enough for me, at this point. Thanks a bunch of worms! =o)