Little Black Ants

I have this prickly pear cactus out in the yard that is being taken over by a black ant colony. When I go out there around sunrise the ants are scurrying around like madmen excavating the soil at the base of the cactus, climbing the wire mesh (who knows why?) that surrounds the plant for protection from hungry rabbits, and carrying things to and fro. In another part of the yard the ants can sometimes be found in one big writhing black mass devouring little field mice that somehow end up in their clutchs. I haven't figured out how the mice are meeting their demise yet but I'm very curious. Pick up one of these dead mice and before you can get it to the trash bin the ants have scurried up the stick and those little bastards have a bite on them that will get your attention! I've observed that when watering the cactus the water disappears quickly due to it's coarsing down the tunnels at the base of the plant. Flooding of the colony each and every day do the ants move on to a more suitable location... hell no, they just haul their dead comrades outta the flooded tunnels and put them in piles topside. There are a lot of ants in Apache Junction.