Fire ants seemed at first a scourge in Texas but they also eliminated certain pests. During the time I presided over a condominium we had no need of termite or carpenter ant control, thanks to our ever-alert fire ants.

Once the pests are gone, if necessary you can reduce the fire ants' population with say, Amdro. By simply paying attention, you can keep your lawn and buildings in a steady state vis-a-vis insect pests.

I was not so successful with alleged mice/rats. Some tenants insisted there were rats present. We do have an abundance of possums but I've never seen a rat or mouse here and baby possums are often mistaken for rats. So I put out some mouse/rat bait boxes. The results over the first season was only two dead very small baby possums, indeed small enough to enter the rat/mouse trap, eat the anticoagulant and die before leaving. After that I threw out the rat/mouse traps.