In the Deep Southern States we have a dangerous nuisance in the ant family. These fire ants have a very painful sting that creates blisters from the poison in their sting fluid. Their nest mounds look harmless from the outside, but even a poke at the surface of it will cause the "hive" to come alive and hundreds of these ants will spill out to defend the nest and begin immediate repairs to the hive.

If a person is not aware of these nests, they can step on them and if now moving quickly the ants will cover the shoes and legs stinging and biting anything. If one is standing on the nest, the ants will climb up the pants and on the leg...climbing higher to make room for more ants to battle the intruder. If a person is bitten by a large number of them the poison can be fettle for a individual. There are instances where people have mowed over the nests scattering the ants and instances where the wind has caught the dusk and large volumes of ants blowing them back onto the mower and operator....sending the person to the hospital and in a few cases the person has died.

So beware of these "mud" mounds and stay clear of them.