Anyone that has lived in Texas and come across a fire ant knows how important it is exterminate these nasty little ants from their yards. To those that have not had the experience of being stung by these tiny brown nuisances and are moving or traveling to the South, beware. Wearing sandals can be a problem because of the painful sting they can inflict. If you show allergic reactions to mosquitoes or bees, you may have a reaction to these stings as well. Swelling and itching is the most common side effect after the initial pain. If you are moving to Texas, finding a good pest control company should be one of the first things you should do. When living in San Antonio I found an experienced San Antonio pest control service company to treat my yard monthly. They used a product called Top Choice fire ant granule that helped eliminate the entire colony of ants as the ants took it inside as food.  It does help even more if you can get your neighbors to treat their yards also. This will cut down on new mounds being started from new queens. Friends in Houston tried burning out the colony by pouring gas down the entrance and setting it on fire.  I wound not recommend this strategy. A Houston pest control company would do a much better job eradicating these terrible little pests!