Really? I just find them incredibly aggravating. Then again, I'm down South and you're up North. I don't think you have fire ants...and I know you don't have Florida harvester ants.
Fire ants hurt like hell, but unless you're unlucky enough to pick up a ton of stings at once, the pain goes away within a few minutes. Florida harvester ants make you want to CLAW YOUR GODDAMN SKIN OFF for at least two hours.
I'm sure it's only a matter of time before bullet ants enter our ecosystem somehow and we get stuck with one of the few species more painful than the harvester ant...