A cougar attacked them. They fought back for 45 harrowing minutes (Washington State)

KUOW Seattle / NPR ^ | March 14, 2024 | Angela King & Natalie Akane Newcomb

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Five competitive cyclists – women in their 50s and 60s – met at the Tokul Creek trail north of Snoqualmie.

At the yellow gate before riding into the deep forest, the women took a group selfie. They had no premonition that 19 miles in, a young male cougar would attack one of them, and that they’d spend 45 minutes in a battle for their lives.

The first cougar, presumably the mother or a sibling, ran off. But the younger one paused … and then lunged at Keri Bergere, 60, who was biking a few paces ahead of him.

“Looking to my right, I saw the cougar’s face,” Bergere said. “It was just a split second, and he tackled me off my bike.”

Bergere and the cougar tumbled into a shallow ditch to the side of the trail. The animal sunk his teeth into Bergere’s jaw and pinned her face into the dirt.

“I thought my teeth were coming loose, and I was gonna swallow my teeth,” she said. “I could feel the bones crushing, and I could feel it tearing back.”

The cougar ripped an earring out of her ear, while maintaining a vice grip on her.

“These ladies are not big, and they were killing this cougar,” Bergere said. “They were not going to let it get me.”

Fight, flight, or freeze, they say, and these women fought. One had a two-inch knife and used it to stab the wild cat – to little avail.

Cyclist Annie Bilotta, 64, tried to choke the cat.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Wow, what a harrowing tale. You never know when a hike or ride in the woods is going to go off the rails. It's worth reading the whole article. Kudos to these women for their incredible fight to save their friend and to Keri for fighting back.

The women cyclists posed for a group selfie on February 17, 2024, before heading into the forest. Nineteen miles later, a cougar would attack one of them. Courtesy of Keri Bergere

Cyclists from the Recycled Cycles Racing team pin down a young male cougar with a bike, as one of them calls 911. The cougar had attacked their friend Keri Bergere 15 minutes before this photo was taken. Courtesy of Keri Bergere

Keri Bergere, 60, the day after she was attacked by a cougar on a bike trail north of Snoqualmie in Washington state, on February 17, 2024. Courtesy of Keri Bergere

Keri Bergere, a survivor of a recent cougar attack, is portrayed on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, at Log Boom Park in Kenmore. KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

Keri Bergere, a survivor of a recent cougar attack, wears the shirt that she was wearing during the attack with the holes and tears colorfully stitched, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, at Log Boom Park in Kenmore. KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

You really have to hand it to somebody who would take the shirt they were attacked in and stitch colorful yarn around the claw-holes!

The strength of a one-year-old cat is amazing. Too bad none of them were forest-carrying. The ranger shot and killed the cat, something the women could have done if they were prepared.

Of course, being the Seattle area and this being NPR, you have the obligatory:

Officer Chris Moszeter arrived and instructed some of the women to stay on the bike to keep the cat down. Then he shot the cougar between the shoulder blades.

The women would later say it was a heartbreaking moment. They are animal lovers; Erica Wolf, whose bike pinned down the cougar, is on the board of PAWS, an animal rescue. But it was a choice between the cougar’s life, and Bergere’s. There was never any question what needed to be done.

But, still, it was heartbreaking for the women. It might have been a bit more "heartbreaking" if their friend had died.

Then another NRP trope: "Why the wild cat attacked Bergere will remain unknown." Sheesh, it's a wild apex predator looking for an easy meal. This is like NPR always saying about mass shooters or islamist terrorists: "The motive is a mystery."

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Ping...

[Vendome]

It was an intramural

Cougars vs cougar

[PIF]

Why the wild cat attacked Bergere will remain unknown.”

—
The overwhelming scent of estrogen was just too much for the poor cat.

[JJBookman]

...the animals love them too, YUM!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

LOLOL...groan! Can’t beat that and you’re the first to chime in.

[Buttons12]

If there’s any more dangerous position than in front of a wild cat, it’s moving fast away from him. The back of you has immense appeal to a predator; flight makes it even more interesting.

[Vendome]

[marktwain]

Was that a box used to send catnip?

[Telepathic Intruder]

"One had a two-inch knife"

Some states won't let you carry anything bigger, because that would mean an actual weapon to defend yourself with. The government could care less if you die. They prefer it, in fact.

[Zhang Fei]

[Why the wild cat attacked Bergere will remain unknown.]

---

Extremely wrong-headed statement. These are apex predators. The cougar was doing what these critters do.

People have become lulled into complacency by assumptions that aren’t true - one of which is the trope that wild animals are less dangerous than humans. We get few cougar attacks because humans don’t hang around cougar habitats much, so run into very few big cats, relative how many other humans we encounter each day. On a per encounter basis, large predator attacks on humans are probably orders of magnitude higher than human on human attacks.

[dragnet2]

Go into the wilds unarmed? Industrial strength stupidity. Looks like these dummies found out the hard way about how wild some wild animals can be.

[dragnet2]

Why the wild cat attacked Bergere will remain unknown

Bewhahahah...They should call in animal social services to figure out the big mystery.

[canuck_conservative]

The mountain lion is the only animal that scares the bejeesus out of even the toughest outdoorsperson ... even more than grizzlies

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Five competitive cyclists – women in their 50s and 60s - fought off a cougar for 45 minutes

A good middle school boys team would have won much faster...

[ridesthemiles]

YOU WIN POST OF THE DAY

[null and void]

Have we got some gals for you!

[Big Red Badger]

2” Knife-——
That’s a Nail Clipper

[null and void]

Never bring a nail clipper to a cougar fight...

[Tommy Revolts]

State of Washington, Tokul Creek trail north of Snoqualmie, cyclists – women in their 50s and 60s, riding into the deep forest...

Anybody else see the problem here or is it just me? Sheesh.