Five female cyclists in a road team fought off a cougar in the Pacific Northwest wilderness for 45 minutes as they rallied to save the life of a fellow rider.
The cyclists from the Recycled Cycles Racing team battled the cougar to protect their friend, Keri Bergere, who was being mauled in Washington state last month.
The team had embarked on a ride at the Tokul Creek trail, east of Seattle, and were 19 miles into their journey when a young male cougar —one of 3,600 cougars in Washington state — launched into a sudden attack on Bergere, 60.
“Looking to my right, I saw the cougar’s face,” Bergere told KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio, Seattle’s NPR news station. “It was just a split second, and he tackled me off my bike.”
(Andres Pina/Getty Images)
Falling into a shallow ditch with the cougar, the victim thought her “teeth were coming loose” and could feel her “bones crushing.”
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 cougar’s jaw with her hand.
“I felt it shifting its teeth like it wanted to try to bite me, too,” Bilotta said. “I said, ‘No, you’re not gonna get both of us.’”
Auna Tietz, 59, dropped a 25-pound rock on the cougar’s head numerous times while trying to avoid hitting her friend. Bergere, still trapped by the cougar, tried to jab her fingers up the animal’s nostrils and into his eyes.
(Kevin Schafer/Getty Images)
The animal finally let up after 15 minutes, and Bergere was able to crawl away.
The male cougar was about a one year old and weighed in at roughly 75 pounds, state Fish and Wildlife officials said.
The animal didn’t have rabies or other significant diseases or issues that would lead to aggressive behavior, the department said.