Josh Bolt
2024-03-18 05:04:37 UTC
A group of cyclists in their 50s and 60s battled with a cougar for 45
minutes after the mountain cat launched at one of their friends and
clamped down on her face during a team ride on a vast Washington state
trail last month.
The five cyclists recalled the harrowing struggle to pry the beast off
their friend using just rocks, sticks and their own hands during the Feb.
17 attack on a trail northeast of Fall City in Washington, according to a
recent report.
The friends, all part of the competitive Recycled Cycles Racing team, were
19 miles into their biking trip when the wild animal lunged at 60-year-old
Keri Bergere and tackled her into a shallow ditch off the trail with the
cougar teeth biting her jaw.
I thought my teeth were coming loose, and I was gonna swallow my teeth,
Bergere told KUOW in an interview published Thursday. I could feel the
bones crushing, and I could feel it tearing back.
I felt like it was suffocating me, she also told the station. I could
taste the blood in my mouth.
Her friends quickly rallied to her defense using sticks and rocks to try
to get the male cougar to loosen his grip on Bergere, whose face was
forced into the ground. One cyclist stabbed the cat with a small knife and
another, Annie Bilotta, 64, attempted to choke the vicious creature.
That was like choking a rock, Bilotta told KUOW. It did absolutely
nothing.
She then tried to pry the cougars jaw with her hand.
I felt it shifting its teeth like it wanted to try to bite me too,
Bilotta said. I said no, youre not gonna get both of us.
Auna Tietz, 59, dropped a 25-pound rock on the cougars head numerous
times while trying to avoid hitting her friend. Bergere, still trapped by
the cougar, tried to jab her fingers up the animals nostrils and in his
eyes.
Finally, after 15 minutes, the animal let up and Bergere was able to crawl
away.
Tisch Williams, 59, then grabbed the $6,000 bike of 51-year-old Erica Wolf
and the group used it to pin down the mountain puma for 30 minutes before
a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife police officer arrived and
shot the creature between the shoulder blades, the outlet reported.
All these ladies came up with superhuman strength, said Bergere, who was
hospitalized in stable condition, but had noticeable facial injuries.
Theyre teeny ladies, and I know that the Fish & Wildlife shot the final
shot to kill it. But these ladies killed that cougar with their bare hands
and no weapons, she also said. Im eternally grateful to each one of
them.
The male cougar was about a 1-year-old and weighed roughly 75 pounds,
state Fish and Wildlife officials said.
The animal didnt have rabies or other significant diseases or issues that
would lead to aggressive behavior, the department said.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/17/us-news/washington-state-cyclists-describe-
fighting-off-cougar-during-attack/
minutes after the mountain cat launched at one of their friends and
clamped down on her face during a team ride on a vast Washington state
trail last month.
The five cyclists recalled the harrowing struggle to pry the beast off
their friend using just rocks, sticks and their own hands during the Feb.
17 attack on a trail northeast of Fall City in Washington, according to a
recent report.
The friends, all part of the competitive Recycled Cycles Racing team, were
19 miles into their biking trip when the wild animal lunged at 60-year-old
Keri Bergere and tackled her into a shallow ditch off the trail with the
cougar teeth biting her jaw.
I thought my teeth were coming loose, and I was gonna swallow my teeth,
Bergere told KUOW in an interview published Thursday. I could feel the
bones crushing, and I could feel it tearing back.
I felt like it was suffocating me, she also told the station. I could
taste the blood in my mouth.
Her friends quickly rallied to her defense using sticks and rocks to try
to get the male cougar to loosen his grip on Bergere, whose face was
forced into the ground. One cyclist stabbed the cat with a small knife and
another, Annie Bilotta, 64, attempted to choke the vicious creature.
That was like choking a rock, Bilotta told KUOW. It did absolutely
nothing.
She then tried to pry the cougars jaw with her hand.
I felt it shifting its teeth like it wanted to try to bite me too,
Bilotta said. I said no, youre not gonna get both of us.
Auna Tietz, 59, dropped a 25-pound rock on the cougars head numerous
times while trying to avoid hitting her friend. Bergere, still trapped by
the cougar, tried to jab her fingers up the animals nostrils and in his
eyes.
Finally, after 15 minutes, the animal let up and Bergere was able to crawl
away.
Tisch Williams, 59, then grabbed the $6,000 bike of 51-year-old Erica Wolf
and the group used it to pin down the mountain puma for 30 minutes before
a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife police officer arrived and
shot the creature between the shoulder blades, the outlet reported.
All these ladies came up with superhuman strength, said Bergere, who was
hospitalized in stable condition, but had noticeable facial injuries.
Theyre teeny ladies, and I know that the Fish & Wildlife shot the final
shot to kill it. But these ladies killed that cougar with their bare hands
and no weapons, she also said. Im eternally grateful to each one of
them.
The male cougar was about a 1-year-old and weighed roughly 75 pounds,
state Fish and Wildlife officials said.
The animal didnt have rabies or other significant diseases or issues that
would lead to aggressive behavior, the department said.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/17/us-news/washington-state-cyclists-describe-
fighting-off-cougar-during-attack/