Black fire ants.
 

I was walking around the Lynnhaven pool on the grass with my pooch with my sandals and bare feet yesterday afternoon and felt a sharp jab into my toe. It was like stepping into a needle.

I looked down and my right foot was covered with about 30 black ants. I brushed these off as quickly as I could. I also looked over my pooch to see if any ants got on him. Fortunately, he missed the group. I never saw any kind of ant mound.

My foot started hurting quite soon after that. I followed what some Internet sites said about treatment for ant bites.

Today I saw the tell-tale white pimple like signs of fire ant bites. I only got about 10 bites on my toes but they sure itch and sting.

I did not know fire ants come in both black and red. These black ant bites are actually worse than the red ant ones I have had before.

I will be more careful from now on and look out for red as well as black fire ants.

Fire ants are active and ready to bite | Highlands Today

Put Clorox on bite immediately and let dry. The pain will stop and it will be red for a couple of days.

I have been bitten by fire ants and had such an allergic reaction I ended up on 2 rounds of steroids. But if you are not so inclined, Benadryl should help with the itching! Sorry you were bitten. It is quite painful as you stated :-(

Thanks for the heads up.
Hope you heal and feel better soon.

Tal. Put hydrocortozone cream on them. They hurt and itched bad for a week and I did try the bleach. Didn't work.

Ok , here is Fumar's treatment for fire ant bites.....
FELS-NAPTHA SOAPuse water to make a little paste and rub it in.....
It works better than anything else ever concocted.........
It also works well on dog bites which is a bigger problem than ants.....
I always carry a bar in my golf cart in case I ever go by doggy-do-whatcha ma callit................

thats as nice as I'm going to get.....

fumar...........:loco:

Fumar...............glad to see you back!

Welcome back Fumar. I thought you would Bounce back soon.

This is the best keep secret, I alway take a small tub of toothpaste with me when I go golfing, when they bite, I just spread it on the sting and in no time it goes away. I have no idea who stated this but it works.

Farmers Almanac agrees with you with respect to fire ant bites and itching.
 

I hope you will consider wearing shoes and socks when walking in grassy areas in the future. A foot on a sandal is like an open-face sandwich.

But then you will not feel them crawling until they get in your nickers, YIPES!

Now I'm panicking about walking my tiny dogs. What do other owners of little dogs do? Mine are multi-talented and can use wee-wee pads indoors if necessary. The thought of them getting covered with these awful stinging ants is making me sick! Any advice is definitely appreciated. BTW, the little ladies are 3 and 6 pounds. Thanks!

Just have to watch out for any ant mounds. I have been walking my pooch around Lynnhaven pool for almost 5.5 years and this is the first time I have been stung by these fire ants.

I must have hit a scouting party as there were no mounds around.

I will be wearing boots and socks from now on when going to the postal center.

If I were more worried about not seeing the mounds or running into another scouting party of fire ants, I would just keep the pooches near the sidewalks at the postal centers.

Tal. They are vicious litlle b*******, I mean bugs. If one stings you they yell for the rest to attack and they have to be SCRAPED off. I got the itchy, hurty, reaction that developed into pustules that they urge you not to open. I was weeding and digging out Zoysia and a group of them thought I belonged to the other political party and ten or eleven of them piled on. My hand hurt for seven whole days. I used hydrocortozone and an effective non itch thing I got at the drug store called Sarna.

I feel for you! I will be wearing gloves and using a poking stick to pull back mulch from now on.

Joaniesmom. We have lived here for five years and I had just the one episode with them. Avoid the obvious mounds. Have your pest guy come when you see ant hills. They are very obvious. Don't let your pooches dig.