Ants, by themselves, are pretty harmless. Unfortunately, they almost never travel alone, and an infestation of ants at your home can be a huge bother, not to mention having to throw away food. Then there are the poisons that can be harmful to small children or pets you may have, or are just unpleasant to be around.

Here are some natural ways to scare those ants away and prevent them from coming back using just natural, organic products most people keep at home or can easily get at the grocery store.

Cucumber / Citrus Peel



Place the cucumber or citrus fruit peel near the place where you see ant activity. Citrus fruit and cucumbers are toxic to a certain tiny mushroom ants feed on, and so they avoid them.

Vinegar



Put some vinegar in a spray bottle and spray the places where you last saw the ants as well as their points of entry. Vinegar harms the ant's sense of smell and destroys the pheromones they leave behind them to help them find their way.

Black pepper



Sprinkle some black pepper on the trail of ants and see how they quickly disperse. Now you can track them and see where they came in through. Make sure you sprinkle some black pepper there, too.