Close Encounters, Close to Home Black widow spiders are fairly common throughout the United States, including Tennessee. But they are not the only venomous animals in the Southeast. Red velvet and cow killer ants also are found in here. Unlike true ants, they lead solitary lives, so the chances of seeing one are slim. The South is home to other venomous animals including bees and wasps, copperhead snakes and timber rattlesnakes.
Venomous animals are often shy and secretive, but deserve a better reputation than they have.
They often act as our silent partners in controlling pests and even disease. It is estimated that at any moment, we are each less than 3 feet from the nearest spider. A spider eats up to 100 times its weight in insects annually, and together spiders eat 80 percent of the world's insect population. Similarly, snakes do a quietly efficient job of controlling rodent and small mammal populations, animals that destroy crops and stored food and may carry disease. Animal venom is used to produce antivenin, required by hospitals worldwide.