Very angry fire ants

I have constructed wetlands that are filled after long periods of time. Fire ants well established.
In most cases there is an 'oil slick' of angry ants floating on the surface.
First thing they do is come out of the ground and head to the surface when flooded.
Upon wading out in the water they are looking to climb something/someone in desperation.

The dogs know where those mounds are. Never thought about horses, and the ramifications of riding a horse attacked.
Had a breeder's brood bitch get killed by them when nesting.

These do not sting near as bad, but Allegheny Ants moved into the bamboo groves.
They can fill an open bottom 50 gallon drum with organic fluff/light soil, and every other container laying around open end down. They use them for solar egg incubators.
Metabolism similar to army ants, always at a sprint, carrying things bigger than their body X3 X4.
They are excellent for some groves and ornamentals eliminating destructive insects. Excepting plants they decide to defoliate.(posses injectable herbicide)
Making raceway grooves in the ground 100's of feet long between bamboo groves in a month or two.
One single light dusting of Sevin dust in the floor of the grove and they leave over night.
In two years time they infiltrated about 10 acres. And are not a problem except when moving close to the grove next to the house.

Your lucky spice. Georgia very strict about shipping potted nursery stock across our state line. Getting caught has strict consequences and rightfully so.

Am astonished that you do not have fire ants in Ohio.

Did you see the killer bee nests so common on the side of the trees in Costa Rica Scott ?

At least that is what I was told they were by the locals.
Thought about driving the rental car close to them and sticking a pole into the nest from a crack in the window.
Same technique I use to knock a paper hornet nests down when over dry land. I fear paper hornets more than any critter in the south.
They very commonly make nests in swamps in shrubs in inundated wetlands. Hard to see, easy to disturb and slow escape. Turn kayak upside down and hide under it as moving away.

You would probably be 'done' for cruelty to animals in this country

I hope that fungi isn't the same stuff that was being "experimented" with down in Texas about 30 years ago. I and several other people ordered some of this to "inoculate" some colonies with. The fungi never arrived and the "researchers" disappeared...I wonder if they've resurfaced in Maine...may have even brought the fire ants up there. Anyhow, I hope there's something to the fire ant eating fungi...would be a good thing, but, I'm not holding my breath. But, again, it would be a very good thing if it works.

This stuff works by the workers feeding it to the queen. About got rid of them using this.

Where'd you get it at James?

Very common. Depot/Ace/Lowes/garden center. Just a teaspoon, very little.

Used to leave the water hose running on them overnight. Two days later another mound appears 10 feet away.

"Hydramethylnon appears to be quite safe in mammals as the oral rat LD50 is 1100 to 1300 mg/kg. (Kidd, 1991) Dermal LD50s are greater than 5000 mg/kg in both the rat and rabbit. (Sine, 1987; Kidd, 1991) In a 26-week study in dogs, doses of up to 3.0 mg/kg/day resulted in increased liver weights and increased liver:body weight ratios. No other effects were observable in either the structure of tissues examined, the chemistry and consistency of the blood, or the chemistry of other bodily fluids. In dogs, 6 mg/kg/day caused decreased food consumption, decreased weight gain and caused testicular atrophy in a 90-day feeding study. (EPA, 1995) Chronic studies in several animals have shown the testis as a target organ. Hydramethylnon is highly toxic to fish and nontoxic to birds and honey bees. (NLM, 1995). Grazing animals fed 10x the recommended field application amount did not develop any problems. No residues were detectable in the milk or tissues of goats at a dietary dose of 0.2 ppm in the daily diet for 8 days. (NLM, 1995) No residues were found in the milk or tissues of cows at a dietary dose of 0.05 ppm for 21 consecutive days. (Kidd, 1991) Leukopenia and eosinopenia developed as early as 14 days after giving calves 1.3 to 1.5 g/kg/day of Amdro(R) and appeared to selectively affect production of immunocompetent T and B cells in a 50 day feeding trial. (Evans et al, 1984). A possible effect on the immune system of horses fed AMDRO has been suggested (Miller et al, 1984). Ponies fed AMDRO-treated grits (1/100th to 1/150th the calculated LD50) for 30 days (Miller et al, 1984) had leukopenia and eosinopenia and AMDRO-fed animals had increased severity of upper respiratory disease and an increased incidence of diarrhea as compared to controls."