Biting, stinging ants

Saturday morning while cutting the grass I was bitten on the ankle and leg by several small brown ants that became agitated after I rolled the mower over their nest and then accidentally stepped on them. I can't say that I blame them for getting angry, but these little buggers attacked me with, I believe, the purpose of bringing me down and dragging me to their queen as a kind of peculiar trophy. Fortunately I sensed the attack early and kicked off my shoes before the 20 or 30 ants swarming over them reached my legs.

These aren't fire ants or carpenter ants but look like the small brown ones that you see on sidewalks or surrounding a potato chip you left behind on the picnic table.

But apparently they eat people too. And now I'm up very early Sunday morning with swollen itching bite sites and a mild case of nausea. Although conceivably the nausea is a result of being up so darned early on a Sunday. Or too many potato chips.

Anyway, this is not the first time this has happened. Two weeks ago I was bitten on my ankles in 3 places--just at the top of my sock line (these ants don't waste time crawling any higher than necessary to find your flesh)--after mowing over nests (yes I know, you'd think I'd have learned) and the bites itched for a full 10 days afterwards.

Evidently there are plenty of biting and stinging ants besides fire ants, and some of these smaller ants bite you and then spray (spit actually) acid on the bite. Talk about rubbing salt into a wound. These tiny villains are merciless! Much worse even than mosquitoes.

Unfortunately there are several nests of these people-eaters hidden in the grass of our front yard, and since I don’t have a riding mower I suppose I’ll have to be extremely careful from now on each time I mow.

Or, I could ask that loud-mouthed chubby kid down the street if he’d like to earn a couple bucks cutting my grass.

Charles, any thoughts on these ants? Or chubby kids?