They can be bad around here at times. One of the few virtues of fire ants is they reduce the tick populations, so do possums. Javelina can be especially bad and they have some type of big flea that will leap off the javelina onto you when you start to dress them, their bite hurts unlike other fleas.
When I get an infested one I spray it with 90% Isopropyl Alcohol, most of the fleas and a number of ticks will jump off as the animal cools. I got a pair of tick gators and they really help with the seed ticks and chiggers. The fabric tangles up their feet and holds them long enough for the permethrine to do it's thing.
I shot one deer that was so heavily infested we didn't even try to process it, I don't know how that deer managed, looked ok when I shot it.
