The climate in New England kept the poisonous things to a minimum. For Vermont, supposedly there are two poisonous spiders, the Northern Black Widow and the Brown Recluse but in my 18 years of living there I never saw either and never heard of anyone seeing one either. The only poisonous snakes in Vermont were the Timber Rattlesnake which is rare and considered endangered, and there were reports of Copperhead snakes, but I never saw either of them while living there.
The things you really had to worry about were the things that weren't poisonous. Ticks were probably the most common thing you needed to watch out for because they can carry both Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and/or Lyme disease, neither of which you want to contract. There were other random animals that could mess you up, but it would be really rare, ones like lynx, bobcats, and bears. But those things had to basically be scared and feel cornered for them to face off with a person. The old addage when it comes to things like bears that "they are more afraid of you than you are of them" is pretty true. Unless you come upon a momma bear with cubs, then all bets are off.