[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!

[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]

[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.

[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...

[null and void]

Have we got some gals for you!

[Big Red Badger]

2” Knife-——
That’s a Nail Clipper

[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.

[DoughtyOne]

I admire their devotion to their friend, and tenacity while
fighting that cat to the death. Pretty amazing story, and
an extreme galvanization of their friendship for eternity.

[9YearLurker]

From the headline I thought they were describing closing time at a hotel bar.

[metmom]

Bleeding heart liberals are idiots.

[CFW]

I read this entire article earlier today. For a group of older liberal women, they did a good job with the tools they had at their disposal. It had to be a scary experience. Pinning the cougar down with a bike was a good move.

Yes, it would be better if at least one of them had a sidearm considering they were traveling such a long distance in a secluded area. Maybe after this experience, one or two of them will re-think their (I’m assuming) position on carrying a firearm in favor of having another tool at their fingertips rather than just a 2 inch blade knife.

[2nd Amendment]

Thank goodness no one had an evil machine gun pistol with them!

[caddie]

Johnny Cougar: Hurts So Good.

[Mariner]

There’s a picture of a dead/taken Cougar from the 60s in a bar on the road to Mount Rainier. Hanging by its neck it was at least 7ft long, maybe 8...and the tail nearly again as long.

It weighed 245lbs.

That cat could bite you at the torso and carry you up into a tree to bleed out.

The big males are regularly 200lbs. You don’t stand a chance.