A comedian filming at Crystal Cove beach in Southern California captured a large rattlesnake emerging from the sea, moments after feeling something brush his toe in the water. Nicky Paris was walking back to his towel on 20 August when he spotted the snake slithering out of the ocean and past his sandals before it disappeared up a nearby hill; he was not bitten, but said other beachgoers nearby were distracted by their phones. The sighting has drawn attention to the wider presence of snakes and other wildlife at the popular coastal park.

The reptile is believed to have been a Southern Pacific rattlesnake, a venomous species growing four to five feet long that is common near the coast at Crystal Cove, which is also home to red diamond rattlesnakes, gopher snakes, king snakes and lizards. Locals responding to Paris's footage online said sightings of rattlers, along with deer, coyotes and even mountain lions, are not unusual at the park, especially in warmer months. The article also notes a separate, more serious incident roughly 83 miles away in Santa Clarita, where a three-year-old girl was bitten by a Southern Pacific rattlesnake hiding under an Amazon parcel and required hospital treatment, including two nights in intensive care and multiple rounds of antivenom.