Fire Ants

This is the first day I didn't get bit by fire ants while I was working. A fire ant bite really hurts - it feels like getting stabbed with a needle, with something on the needle that burns.

Fire ants are passionate about defending their home. Unfortunately that backfires for them; because they are so ready to bite, we kill them when we find them.
A couple of weeks ago the ornamental grass was trimmed and the new growth is thriving. In this row I saw something unusual.

In the second grass, fire ants have built a huge nest.

It's actually well camouflaged! This is such a great nest that I hated to do anything about it. 

But there are little children running around here, not paying any attention to where they are going, like children do on vacation. So the ants had to go. I wasn't going to kick this hill. Instead I got one of the other workampers to sprinkle a little something on it that should do the trick.