British granny catches deadliest snake by hood

London, Sep 6 (IANS) A 57-year-old grandmother in Britain who came across a snake in her garden simply picked it up with kitchen tongs and put it in a chocolate box, little knowing that it was the world's deadliest.

Kath Forster, put the foot-long reptile in a chocolate box after it was found in a crate of Indian slate being used for a patio.

She was stunned after experts called in by her family identified it as a saw-scaled viper. One bite can kill, there is no anti-venom and it causes about 10,000 deaths a year as it lives largely in highly-populated areas of Asia and Africa.

Kath, of Derbyshire, said she just imitated TV animal experts by grabbing the snake from behind its head. "I wasn't scared and would do it again."

Expert John Bent said: "It's amazing no one was killed.

The snake is now with a licensed collector.