The cat dialed back pressure through its crushing jaws, and the friend was able to pull away, fellow cyclists said in an interview one month after the incident east of Seattle.

A group of Seattle-area cyclists who helped one of their own escape the jaws of a cougar recounted their story this weekend, saying they fought the cat and pinned it down.

The woman who was attacked, Keri Bergere, sustained neck and face injuries and was treated at a hospital and released following the Feb. 17 incident on a trail northeast of Fall City, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement.

Bergere said she spent five days at an area hospital and was still recovering.

Fish and Wildlife Lt. Erik Olson called the actions of her fellow cyclists “heroic” in the statement. But the extent of the cyclists’ battle with the 75-pound cat wasn’t immediately clear then.

  • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    I think it’s hilarious just how unprepared anything is for how much getting suddenly beat the fuck up can hurt.

    Humans are one of the only species that can spontaneously gang up and lay the smack down on ya.

    • Enkrod@feddit.de
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      8 months ago

      Baboons gang up on leopards all the time, our genetic line has been ganging up on threads since we weren’t even apes but monkeys. It’s the age old tradition of forming a mob and curbstomping everything that brought us to the top of the food chain.

  • Shadywack@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    That’s pretty badass of the women. Using the bike to pin that big cat down in just the right spot must’ve taken some brass too. The thing would be hissing and freaking the fuck out trying to claw you while holding it down.

    When your friends fight off a mountain lion, and then pin it down, that’s how you know you have some good friends.

    • sleepmode@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      In the article I read one of them dropped a 25 pound rock on its head until she was exhausted. She’d almost given up when it finally started letting go. Before that they were stabbing with a small knife and kicking the shit out of it with tree branches and nothing was really working. They also tried choking it out but said it felt like it was made of iron. Scary shit.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    It’s always wolves and bears in movies, but if either attack a human it’s because the human ignored warnings and the bear or wolves couldn’t retreat anymore…

    Big cats tho?

    It’s very easy for them to consider humans food.

    A Cougar can stalk a human for miles before striking, and you’ll never know it’s there.

    If you turn around and see a cougar staring at you, you’re already considered food and running doesn’t help. You need to act like a bear, make a shit ton of noise and pretend you’re not currently shitting your pants. And you’ll likely scare it off. Act like prey and run tho, and it’s going to act like a predator.

    Run from a bear and wolves, and they got exactly what they wanted and won’t chase.

    • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      As unlikely as it is to ever come up, you shouldn’t run from wolves or bears either. They both have a strong prey drive and might chase to kill even if that wasn’t their objective in the confrontation.

      • bhmnscmm@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Yeah this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Bears (brown, not so much black) and wolves don’t see people as prey? Wrong. Humans just cross paths with them less frequently.

        Humans may not be the prey of choice for bears and wolves. But that’s the case for mountain lions too.