re: fire ants. yeah those are no fun. Got bit by one of those in florida once.

And from what I've read ants are good. Haven't seen this happen in my garden but apparently they herd aphids and eventually eat them.

This also reminds me of the time I found termites in my veggie garden. I initially thought I needed to get rid of them but if they are not too close to your house they are actually very helpful in breaking down plant material.

great picture!

@june: "bit by one" consider yourself lucky. Being the shoeless idiot that I am, I'd routinely stomp right into a bed hidden in my horrid bermudagrass lawn down there.

Nothing like doing the Dance of the Ants, and being left with dozens of tiny blisters.

Hooray land-of-no-fire-ants!

Sorry, but I actually had to laugh at "bit by one". Coming from Texas, I have plenty of my own fire ant stories. I was landscaping in Houston during the summers while I was in college, and we'd sometimes look down and notice that we were being swarmed by them. I've done the Dance of the Ants more times than I'd like to remember.