A group of Washington cyclists, five women between the ages of 50 and 60, are crediting camaraderie and tenacity, plus a USD$6,000 mountain bike and their bare hands, for fighting off a real-life cougar on a Washington state mountain bike trail.It comes after Parks Canada officials determined on March 8 that an alleged attack on a Calgary man that was reported on February 12 was actually a hoax.In this case, it was terrifyingly real..It happened after the group of five friends, who are all members of a competitive cycling team, were accosted by the feline predator on the Tokyo Creek Trail east of Seattle.After it grabbed the eldest woman, 60-year old Kerry Bergere, by the throat and knocked her into a ditch, the remaining women used sticks to pry the beast loose — to no avail. Then three of them pinned the large cat down with a $6,000 mountain bike while the fourth grabbed a 10-kilogram boulder and continually dropped it on the cat’s head. Bergere meanwhile, tried to force her fingers up the beast’s nostrils and eyes.The whole February 17 ordeal lasted about 45 minutes before they were able to call 9-1-1 to summon a wildlife officer who shot and killed it..Bergere was largely uninjured save for a bleeding thumb and a large welt to her face.A post-mortem determined the cougar was in fact male and weighed about 75 pounds (35 kilos).After the ordeal Bergere said she was fighting for her life.“I thought my teeth were coming loose and I was going to swallow my teeth. I could feel the bones crushing and I could feel it tearing back,” she told the Snow Brain website. “I felt like it was suffocating me, and I could taste the blood in my mouth. All these ladies came up with superhuman strength. They’re teeny ladies, and I know that the Fish and Wildlife shot the final shot to kill it, but these ladies killed that cougar with their bare hands and no weapons and I’m eternally grateful to each one of them.”Cougars, also known as mountain lions or pumas, are quite extensive throughout North America but sightings are rare. According to Wikipedia, there have been fewer than 126 attacks in the past 100 years, 27 or which have been fatal — including one in Banff National Park in 2001.
A group of Washington cyclists, five women between the ages of 50 and 60, are crediting camaraderie and tenacity, plus a USD$6,000 mountain bike and their bare hands, for fighting off a real-life cougar on a Washington state mountain bike trail.It comes after Parks Canada officials determined on March 8 that an alleged attack on a Calgary man that was reported on February 12 was actually a hoax.In this case, it was terrifyingly real..It happened after the group of five friends, who are all members of a competitive cycling team, were accosted by the feline predator on the Tokyo Creek Trail east of Seattle.After it grabbed the eldest woman, 60-year old Kerry Bergere, by the throat and knocked her into a ditch, the remaining women used sticks to pry the beast loose — to no avail. Then three of them pinned the large cat down with a $6,000 mountain bike while the fourth grabbed a 10-kilogram boulder and continually dropped it on the cat’s head. Bergere meanwhile, tried to force her fingers up the beast’s nostrils and eyes.The whole February 17 ordeal lasted about 45 minutes before they were able to call 9-1-1 to summon a wildlife officer who shot and killed it..Bergere was largely uninjured save for a bleeding thumb and a large welt to her face.A post-mortem determined the cougar was in fact male and weighed about 75 pounds (35 kilos).After the ordeal Bergere said she was fighting for her life.“I thought my teeth were coming loose and I was going to swallow my teeth. I could feel the bones crushing and I could feel it tearing back,” she told the Snow Brain website. “I felt like it was suffocating me, and I could taste the blood in my mouth. All these ladies came up with superhuman strength. They’re teeny ladies, and I know that the Fish and Wildlife shot the final shot to kill it, but these ladies killed that cougar with their bare hands and no weapons and I’m eternally grateful to each one of them.”Cougars, also known as mountain lions or pumas, are quite extensive throughout North America but sightings are rare. According to Wikipedia, there have been fewer than 126 attacks in the past 100 years, 27 or which have been fatal — including one in Banff National Park in 2001.
