Woman bitten by snake at Crystal Cove park

A state parks official is reminding beachgoers at Crystal Cove State Park to be aware of all kinds of wildlife, even rattlesnakes, after a 61-year-old Seattle woman was bit last weekend.

Signs throughout the 2,791-acre park caution visitors about the venomous snakes, though there were no warnings posted near the Pelican Point area of the beach where the woman stepped on a 1- to 2-foot-long rattlesnake between 3:45 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday, said Kevin Pearsall, California State Parks’ public safety superintendent overseeing Orange County.

The woman, who was on the beach with other family members, tried to scare seagulls away from her food when she stepped on the snake.

State lifeguards responded. The woman never lost consciousness while on the beach, Pearsall said. Newport Beach paramedics transported the woman to Hoag Hospital.

She was eventually released and is recovering, Pearsall said.

Snakes occasionally slither onto the beach, but Pearsall said the last reported bite was in 2011.

Rattlesnakes, which in general are not aggressive unless threatened or provoked, can cause serious injury to humans on rare occasions, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The California Poison Control Center said the snakes account for more than 800 bites each year statewide, with one to two deaths.

Pearsall called the incident “unfortunate,” adding that visitors on the sand have to be on the lookout with native habitat areas nearby.

“Go in any park and it contains wildlife,” he said. “It’s not residential. It’s not urban.”