I can understand being more cautious in the US, as you do have snakes that could do a lot of damage. Here in Britain if anyone is seriously worried a snake might be deadly they need to be forced to watch David Attenborough. Even an escaped pet won't be venomous, and the bite of a European Adder (our only native venomous snake) is said to be similar in harm and pain as a bee sting.
Pedantic note: Toxic is not a synonym for venomous in the context of snake bites. Snake venom is a toxin, but the snake itself isn't toxic.
You'll be surprised just how many people keep "hot" reptiles, both legally registered under the DWA act, and sadly illegally. The good news is that almost all of the abandon or escape snakes that find its way into the media are either cornsnakes (who are masters at escaping through the smallest of gaps) or pythons (normally Royals that max out around 1.2m), both of which are constrictors.
Whilst a bite from either is not serious, taking one from an adult Royal hurts, and due to the anti-coagulant nature of their saliva bleeds a lot ! (and yes I'm speaking form experience).
Sadly the numbers of European Adders (
Vipera berus) are in decline in the UK. They are UKs only venomous snake, and are quite small, with females being almost twice as large as the male. I wouldn't say that a bite would be no worse than a bee sting... You will be surprised just how many people end up in hospital from bee stings. Fortunately the snakes are very secretive and encounters are not that common. All reptiles native to the UK are protected so it's an offence to even handle some of them. Best advice if you see an adder, watch it from a distance, don't try and do a Steve Irwin and grab it by the tail and use a stick as a makeshift snake hook !
