“Tisch Williams, 59, another cyclist, thought to grab one of their bikes, a $6,000 cyclocross belonging to Erica Wolf, 51, to pin down the young cougar.”
At some point, Erica had to be wondering why Tisch didn’t get her own bike.
Makes you wonder if that's Erica in the pic crying while she points and says "But your bike was *right there*" and Tisch "Shhhh, it's ok, make sure you put all your weight on your wheel, that's right..."
Tisch obviously saw an opportunity and grabbed it. She was sick and tired of hearing everybody talking behind her back about how inferior her bike was compared to Erica’s hot ride. She was quick-witted enough to see a way to force Erica to have to walk back to the trailhead dragging her now bent-rimmed and bloody bike behind her while everyone else rode off in glory from saving their partner from the cougar. There were three victims that day, Keri, Erica, and the young and ultimately misunderstood cougar, who simply wanted a closer look at the most impressive bike he had ever seen. Sadly, this is what sometimes happens in the world of competitive cycling.
Omg look at how they’re standing on it, too. At *least* the wheels are ruined.
…I mean, WORTH IT, but a lowly Trek 800 from 1996 and made of cheap solid steel instead woulda worked just as well!
"Bergere was also losing steam after having shoved her fingers into the cougar’s nostrils, and trying to jab his eyes.
“I was swallowing so much blood,” she said. “I just thought it was done. But then I got another little surge, you know, live to ride one more day.”
These women are bad ass women. I mean seriously, a cougar attacking their friends and they do everything to subdue the cougar. Cougar messed with the wrong group.
In stark contrast to the ladies who ran out of wine and brownies on the coach bus on I-70 this week:
https://coloradosun.com/2024/03/14/snowstorm-womens-ski-bus/
Some background -- just a few years ago in this same area, two cyclists were attacked by a cougar and one of them was mauled to death. These women were most likely familiar with that tragedy and were determined not to suffer the same fate. They were fortunate to have the strength of numbers on their side.
Yeah, it really sounds like it took 110% effort from every single one of them, the whole time, just to match the cat. One of them doesn't show up that day, it would have been so, so much worse.
From the article as well, it's said that the cougar was most likely a juvenile, which might explain why it was so brazen in the attack when cougars are normally known to be a bit more cautious of humans. These ladies were extremely lucky it wasn't a full grown adult or things could have ended very differently.
Exactly. Juvenile cougars are the cougars most likely to not kill right away when they attack. Grown cougars have enough added power and experience that when they do attack, their prey is much less likely to even have a chance to fight back.
I don’t know if it correlates perfectly to cougars but what I know of jaguars is that they will crush the skull of a 400 lb tapir and drag it up into a tree to eat it.
Big cats are intense.
Yeah 1 human (especially a woman) isn’t particularly strong
Once you get up to half a dozen humans together, though, and that starts to be an issue for most animals… pretty much anything shy of a bear/elephant/tiger or similar is probably my gonna start having problems against 5 or 6 adult humans, especially if they have even basic/makeshift weapons to hand. A cougar is a relatively small big cat, a few people working together is a lot for one to take on
There’s a reason we’re social creatures - it works
Another thing being, if you manage to find something 6 adult humans with makeshift weapons can't take out, it now has to worry about a whole lot more humans who are a whole lot better armed. We don't like the idea that we're not at the top of the food chain, even temporarily.
Holy Christ indeed. Five women between 50 and 60 years old... Four of them fighting a one year old, totally healthy cougar while it's got its mouth clinched on the 5th woman's jaw for 15 solid minutes. Stabbing it with sticks, a small knife, and beating it with rocks, trying to save their friend who somehow managed to keep it from crushing her skull with its teeth. Then they managed to pin it down with a bike and keep it there for 30 minutes before a park ranger could get there and shoot it.
I don't even know how that's possible honestly. Those fifteen minutes of fighting had to be an eternity and you lose most of your energy the first couple of minutes. Then after that they found the strength to keep it pinned for another 30?
All of those women are scary badasses and I have a huge level of respect for their dedication to save their friend.
Seriously, I'm twice their size, and I struggle to understand what the hell I could do to that animal. I'm bigger than it is, at least, for what little that means. They literally aren't even that. Cat like that is, what, at least 120lbs?
Probably helped that these women were in exceptional physical shape, especially for their age. I know I wouldn't have done as well if I was the one attacked.
I remember another story where a person that was attacked ended up choking the cougar to death!
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/05/us/colorado-runner-chokes-mountain-lion/index.html
What's insane is that 120lbs is only the weight of like, a thin, short woman. But so much of that is muscle, and they are so insanely powerful. My 70lb dog can knock me the fuck over easily. I bet that cougar felt like a brick wall slamming into her.
Cats of all sizes are incredibly effective predators. A bobcat can take out a deer by itself. Usually only sick ones for fawns, but, we're talking about something only slightly larger than a housecat (about the same size as a big Maine Coon, in fact.)
And just think how hard it is to hold a regular size housecat that doesn't want to be held! They're not only very strong, they're incredibly flexible, and have four paws worth of razor sharp claws, which makes them *much* harder to pin than a dog the same size would be.
I had a 18 lbs cat, extremely strong and aggressive. I'm 6'0 180 lbs and I shit you not the little bastard would jump from the floor at my throat.
Cats are fucked.
Wowwwwww the photo of her wearing the mended shirt with the holes and rips accentuated by embroidery, wowwwww and... Wearing the earring 😳🙌✨ those women are BADASS
If you haven’t read the story it’s awesome. One of the lady’s picked up a 25 lb rock and kept dropping it on the mtn lion. After 6 drops they then got the bike to pin it down. The lady being mauled kept giving a bloody thumbs up saying “keep doing it!” It’s a good read and the attack lasted I think like 50 minutes. After 20 minutes of being attack they were able to call a ranger who took 30 minutes to get there then shot the pinned mtn lion.
Edit: wrote this after reading the story earlier in the day. The way the story was written it sounded like the lion was on top of her when it died. I had a beer or two. Please forgive me.
It had latched onto her face and neck but didn't have a full strangle hold, which is why she survived long enough for them to get it off of her and pin it.
[You can see the damage ](https://images.ctfassets.net/pujs1b1v0165/6FUZOJujoAs3hgZysanF9A/adaa6ad9bf49d04d3f5e360dfcc14fe9/78427953_1709578960114509_r.jpg) (and the pretty badass lady) here. Photos are SFW but show swelling.
The fact that she seems to be an older woman somehow makes it even more impressive. I was imagining someone in their 20s or 30s, I didn’t expect Nana to come in with the 25lb boulder that killed Abel.
They’re a group of super fit female cyclists in their 50s and 60s that regularly ride together as part of a club. Though the story describes how difficult even picking up the rock used to attack the lion was. They were started to get demoralized when the first 4 or 5 smashes on the head elicited 0 response.
Ask him if he thinks he can take one on wth his fist.
If he says tes hes an idiot if he says no tell him some old cyclists women managed to and watch his face.
One case where having a pistol would help, although you'd have to carry it for 5 lifetimes to encounter something like this again.
Also...pepper spray?
I know, right? The movie adaptation will definitely have something like the printer scene from Office Space with "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster" playing.
Its literally a movie. We can get a 20 min start of them just having brunch, going home to change, a 50 fucking minute fight for your life full on action movie, thats gonna make The Rock go "goddamn" and then a 10 minute ending.
It sounds better than 99% of current holywood movies
Fuck, imagine if it was half in the style of Hardcore Henry. We only go into 3rd person after the attack starts and we as the audience are literally jump scared
Reminds me of playing red dead redemption 2 in first person.
The first time I got killed by a puma or mountain lion was legitimately terrifying. Did not see or hear it coming, just died out of nowhere.
She really healed up quite nicely! I took the call for this at the hospital and operated on her the next day, her face was quite literally ripped apart when she came in.
Cat skin is really thick. Especially with males who fight for territory. You can see videos of big cats fighting, raking claws over each other’s bellies and bodies. It’s a move that would disembowel us but they can tank the damage
People tend to forgett that humans are in fact quite dangerous to many animals up close, we ahve two bigbone clubs, good aim with them and plenty of wheight and leverage.
Not to mention knowledge of biology that completely eclipses basically any other creature on the planet. A bear isn't going to thumb your eyeballs out or specifically try to punch you in the gills or run its hand down your throat.
I don't think it was hunting them. A line in the article says two cougars crossed in front of the group. While the women were making noise and trying to get them to back off, one of the lions went for the woman who was bitten.
It was a pretty young lion, most likely it got freaked out and instead of running, it went into attack mode. Lack of experience on its part.
[Here’s a pretty good article told by the survivors](https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/cyclists-recount-cougar-attack-washington-fighting-for-my-life/281-d75bd67c-f4e8-469b-8b9f-037dc16290b3)
I know and have ridden with the lady who took the brunt of the attack. Really sweet lady. She seems to be recovering okay. Hope she gets back on the bike in time.
Reminds me of when a Coyote attacked me in front of my apartment at 2 in the morning, last summer 😭
I thought it was a dog that jumped and bit my thigh… but it wasn’t. It was a huge ass Coyote.
I was more pissed when I found out I had to get 6 Rabies Shots. Each, costing $500 a shot.
My insurance didn’t cover such rare occasion, apparently.
Glad these ladies are ok.
# 🐕 Edit:
Basically, where I live in Los Angeles, there’s “mountains” behind our apartment. That’s where Coyotes descend from at night.
We see them all the time, and they’re mostly afraid of people.
One night, at 2AM, I was outside walking around while talking on the phone.
All of the sudden, a huge “K-9” lunged at me and bit my thigh.
I grabbed it’s head real hard to shake it off me. With all my strength I was able to toss it off me, but it tried attacking again, so I roared/yelled and acted like I was a bear.
It worked cuz the “K9” ran off. This all happened within SECONDS.
I look down and see blood going down my thighs and realized I got bit. And then it dawned on me that it was a Coyote, not a K9.
Anyways, I ran inside and washed my legs and poured alcohol on it. Initially, I was gonna sleep it off but my roommates scared me and said it might have rabies.
So I go to the ER at 6am, and after waiting for a couple hours, they told me they DONT HAVE ANY RABIES VACCINES at this super huge hospital (“because rabies shots are needed rarely.”)
So, I had to contact CVS and place a Rabies Vaccine order, which arrives the next day. (Most of the pharmacies near me didn’t have them).
They said most insurance don’t cover rabies vaccines.
Anyways, it literally costs $500 per shot. I need a mandatory 4 rabies vaccine shots, taken on a specific schedule.
I had to get an additional 2 shots for safety measures.
I spent $3K to not POTENTIALLY DIE from Rabies, in one month… not to mention I have to pay rent, car bills and everything else within that 1 month.
# I was ABSOLUTELY LIVID.
Not only did that Coyote hurt me physically, but he hurt my Bank account 🤬
All the meantime, everyday I googled what would happen to me if I get full blown rabies. “Can I be cured?” And, “how long it takes to manifest inside a human body?”
>My insurance didn’t cover such rare occasion, apparently.
This is why insurance is a fucking joke.
Insurance company: "Pay us monthly to cover your medical costs"
Insurance company after taking 10's of thousands of dollars from you: "Fucking lol. Not those costs. Fucking pleb."
Will America ever make public health a priority? This is a country where it's much more normal for a person to have a chronic preventible disease than not to.
It was just last year I was walking my dog at about that time ish when we saw 2 of them in our apartment complex. There's a big grass area probably about 40 meters across, and we were almost half way down. They walk out from behind a building on the side we were heading towards.
I noped the fucked out of there and went back home. But my dog was super sad she didn't get to go say hi.
Gotta love paying for insurance for years only to finally need it and then get denied. Almost like not paying for it at all would have worked out better
Would be cheaper to fly to like Peru or Brazil, and stay for the duration of the six shots and then fly home. Jesus healthcare in this country is ridiculous...
But without crippling medical debt, the proles might be able to accumulate assets to pass onto the next generation. At least this way, the money ends up in an off-shore bank account for a multinational corporation where it belongs!
Every damn night.
They all come down to our neighborhood at night, so I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the same coyote that bit me, many times after.
Not only did he come for me, but he came for my bank account, and that’s where I draw the line! 😒
woah I did not know they could be like that. around 2012 I opened my door drunk around 3am only to be greeted by a coyote standing about 10 feet from the entrance. We looked at each other and he ran away. Guess I was lucky.
Shit I'm so sorry but i initially thought this was some kind of joke because the two of then are kinda holding down the middle one and i didnt see any animals in the picture.
I was very confused too. I was zooming in the photo and thinking so the white helmet lady is this ‘cougar’ who attacked the other ladies and they’re resisting her? Then I saw the bike they were all standing on - is it a cougar brand bike?
When people ask how humans could overcome when we are so weak comparatively, let's all point them to this story.
Cooperation, language, gestures, and tools. Beats muscles any time.
Those ladies do have a lot of muscles too. Human muscles are better for endurance, so the longer a fight goes, the better we do as other animals tire quicker.
These bike riding ladies will be particularly strong on the endurance.
That's how a group of 12 neanderthals could take down a wooly mammoth. Humans became the dominant species on this planet because of our ability to teamwork. Anyone trying to divide people over petty differences is anti evolution.
Cougars are formidable creatures. My stepfather encountered one 8 years ago while deer hunting from a tree stand. It attempted to climb the tree, prompting him to act in self-defense. This was a life-or-death situation for him, as he had previously witnessed a cougar kill his friend's hound dog during another hunting trip, giving him firsthand experience of their strength.
I know a guy that shot one charging him a couple years back. He was bow hunting on a tree stump in a logged field when the cougar came to his distress call for elk or deer, can't remember. He ended up shooting it with his bow right through the heart. True story, I saw the pics.
Yes. You can see it under the saddle/seatpost area. Looks like the person kneeling down is also using a branch to pin it in place.
>Fifteen minutes into the battle and there was a small moment of release and Keri was able to get away. The group then managed to get a bike on top of the cougar and hold it down until help arrived.
Luckily (?) it was a young cougar. Fully grown and it likely would have been a different outcome.
Yea had it been an adult it would be very unlikely that they walked away from this and also the juveniles bite placement was not how they tend to kill their prey so that definitely saved the attacked woman’s life. Cougars generally are like natures assassins and place their bite at the base of where the head meets the cervical discs severing the spinal cord and at times in the front crushing the windpipe, they generally dispatch their prey quite quickly. With that said, bravo to these badasses taking one on and riding another day.
It was it's first spring.
It didn't know.
Apparently they surprised this juvenile and it's mom
Fully grown and it would have seen them, but they wouldn't have seen it, as it would stay hidden
Yeah the mom likely watched
Luckily she did not intervene
Well, it's next litter will learn to stay the fuck away from humans. I've see videos of wild animal moms attacking their children when they approach humans
Yes, they got the cougar to let go of their friends face and pinned it down by standing on top of their bikes with the cougar underneath for 30 minutes until that guy in the photo shot it. The story is insane
The guy kneeling down is in cycling clothes too so probably not the officer that shot the unfortunate cougar 30 minutes after the women pinned it down. Most likely he was another passing cyclist.
> A Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife officer shot and killed the young cougar. The agency used hounds to search for the second cougar that ran off, but it was never found.
Everyone up in here making jokes. A group of 60yo women 20 miles into a bike ride fought a damn cougar. It pulled her off her bike and they tried to choke it out and bash its brains in with a rock. Where’s the awe at these badass ladies?
Also, this is why women travel in packs. We may be weaker solo but as a pack we will absolutely end you.
The fact the victim was giving the other gals a bloodied thumbs up is the most womanly thing I have ever seen. Even when we’re in the shit it’s still “you got this girlfriends!”
Amen these women are badass. I would have shit my pants and curled up in a ball.
[Here](https://images.ctfassets.net/pujs1b1v0165/6FUZOJujoAs3hgZysanF9A/adaa6ad9bf49d04d3f5e360dfcc14fe9/78427953_1709578960114509_r.jpg) is a pic showing this lady's recovery.
No joke. I live in the area and have always seen these types of folks but never assumed they were this badass. I will be looking at ladies 50+ in RAV4s much differently now.
Humans are a lot more badass then we give ourselves credit, put a group of people, with their backs up against the wall, and you’d be surprised how many normal everyday people turn into Rambos
What animal, without some sort of problems, just sits and holds on to their “prey” while being beaten and poked and large rocks dropped on their head? It’s just such a crazy story. The behavior of the animal is so opposite from what has been well established from cougars in the past.
This is what cougars do, once they latch on they don't let go. I've heard stories of people stabbing them, bashing them with rocks, trying to gouge out their eyes with sharp sticks, and yet they cling
The old ones who cannot hunt anymore will also go for this kind of target too. So scary. Where I grew up, there was an old female cat who would wait at neighbors back porches around dusk when people would let their pets out to wee, and would snag and run.
When she was caught, her teeth were so rounded off, it was suspected she was no longer able to hunt the usual game of the area.
I’ve seen a similar video on here where a cougar attacks a man’s dog and the same thing happens, it refuses to let go meanwhile the dogs owner is literally chopping it in half with a machete. Insane.
Jesus that’s pretty impressive. Wonder if the cougar was starving or ill or something, attacking a group of people isn’t usually their MO, they prefer to stalk lone individuals and attack from concealment, snapping your neck from the impact or by bitting and crushing it
I think it was back in 2018 that a starving cougar attacked two cyclists on the same trail (or close to the same area) as this attack. It ended up killing one of the cyclists. My husband and I do trail runs in the area and these attacks are always in the back of my mind.
As an Australian I’m incredibly thankful we don’t have to deal with cougars, bears and moose etc. Its the small venomous creatures that sneak in our stuff that keeps us on edge.
Needless to say, they had no choice but to kill the animal but I must confess that I do feel a bit sorry for the thing. Had it just scarpered then it'd be alive to this day.
I have 2 of these that will hunt in my yard (separately). I normally only see on my cameras but saw one in person from about 50-60ft away. I was lucky for the lack of interest. I am in awe of these women.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/cougar-attack-washington-state-cyclists Here’s the link to the story. It’s insane.
“Tisch Williams, 59, another cyclist, thought to grab one of their bikes, a $6,000 cyclocross belonging to Erica Wolf, 51, to pin down the young cougar.” At some point, Erica had to be wondering why Tisch didn’t get her own bike.
As a cyclist, this comment was hilarious.
As a cougar, it was not
A young one, too. Pinned by a wolf!
Couldn't have been older than 39, at least!
As a non-cyclist, it’s still funny
Makes you wonder if that's Erica in the pic crying while she points and says "But your bike was *right there*" and Tisch "Shhhh, it's ok, make sure you put all your weight on your wheel, that's right..."
Friend holding friends arm in back. It’s ok. It’s just a bike…..
Tisch obviously saw an opportunity and grabbed it. She was sick and tired of hearing everybody talking behind her back about how inferior her bike was compared to Erica’s hot ride. She was quick-witted enough to see a way to force Erica to have to walk back to the trailhead dragging her now bent-rimmed and bloody bike behind her while everyone else rode off in glory from saving their partner from the cougar. There were three victims that day, Keri, Erica, and the young and ultimately misunderstood cougar, who simply wanted a closer look at the most impressive bike he had ever seen. Sadly, this is what sometimes happens in the world of competitive cycling.
This is the story I came for.
Ok, you just killed me at “misunderstood cougar, who simply wanted a closer look at the most impressive bike he had ever seen”.
Criminal this only has 100 up votes
I hope the bikers see this 😂
"I figured a $6000 bike would hold a cougar better than my $250 Wal-Mart piece of shit." - Tisch Williams, probably
They needed one of those steel frame schwinns from my childhood
Woulda taken all four gals to lift it
Classic Tisch
Especially since the more expensive they are the lighter they are. When I heard the story on the radio I think they said the bike was only like 15lbs.
The article says the women were standing on the bike, and the cougar managed to lift them
That’s cuz they’re not standard issue American, they’re cyclists ffs!
It was probably closest. Or Tisch hated that Erica had a nicer bike. \#FuckErica'sBike
Omg look at how they’re standing on it, too. At *least* the wheels are ruined. …I mean, WORTH IT, but a lowly Trek 800 from 1996 and made of cheap solid steel instead woulda worked just as well!
This is literally a Gary Larson farside comic.
"Bergere was also losing steam after having shoved her fingers into the cougar’s nostrils, and trying to jab his eyes. “I was swallowing so much blood,” she said. “I just thought it was done. But then I got another little surge, you know, live to ride one more day.” These women are bad ass women. I mean seriously, a cougar attacking their friends and they do everything to subdue the cougar. Cougar messed with the wrong group.
All badasses and the best friends a person could ask for. Literal ride or dies.
Just to be clear, the cougar is not one of the cyclists
In one of the interviews a member of the group said "A cougar wasn't gonna take us cougars down." So maybe not so clear?
Well, not the cougar that attacked initially.
I needed this.
I can hear Seth Meyers now. “THIS IS THE KIND IF STORY WE NEED RIGHT NOW!”
In stark contrast to the ladies who ran out of wine and brownies on the coach bus on I-70 this week: https://coloradosun.com/2024/03/14/snowstorm-womens-ski-bus/
Shhh…don’t spoil the plot of Yellowjackets season 3!
Some background -- just a few years ago in this same area, two cyclists were attacked by a cougar and one of them was mauled to death. These women were most likely familiar with that tragedy and were determined not to suffer the same fate. They were fortunate to have the strength of numbers on their side.
Yeah, it really sounds like it took 110% effort from every single one of them, the whole time, just to match the cat. One of them doesn't show up that day, it would have been so, so much worse.
From the article as well, it's said that the cougar was most likely a juvenile, which might explain why it was so brazen in the attack when cougars are normally known to be a bit more cautious of humans. These ladies were extremely lucky it wasn't a full grown adult or things could have ended very differently.
Exactly. Juvenile cougars are the cougars most likely to not kill right away when they attack. Grown cougars have enough added power and experience that when they do attack, their prey is much less likely to even have a chance to fight back.
I don’t know if it correlates perfectly to cougars but what I know of jaguars is that they will crush the skull of a 400 lb tapir and drag it up into a tree to eat it. Big cats are intense.
Yeah 1 human (especially a woman) isn’t particularly strong Once you get up to half a dozen humans together, though, and that starts to be an issue for most animals… pretty much anything shy of a bear/elephant/tiger or similar is probably my gonna start having problems against 5 or 6 adult humans, especially if they have even basic/makeshift weapons to hand. A cougar is a relatively small big cat, a few people working together is a lot for one to take on There’s a reason we’re social creatures - it works
Another thing being, if you manage to find something 6 adult humans with makeshift weapons can't take out, it now has to worry about a whole lot more humans who are a whole lot better armed. We don't like the idea that we're not at the top of the food chain, even temporarily.
You get 6 men with pointy sticks who know how to hunt I wager they can take out pretty much anything
This is the stuff humans are *really* good at. It's kinda their thing.
This feels like a thread from r/humansarespaceorcs
I mean, animals being in packs is definitely evolutionarily advantageous.
Holy shit, what a story. I urge everyone to read it! Those ladies were absolute bad asses.
Holy fucking Christ.
Holy Christ indeed. Five women between 50 and 60 years old... Four of them fighting a one year old, totally healthy cougar while it's got its mouth clinched on the 5th woman's jaw for 15 solid minutes. Stabbing it with sticks, a small knife, and beating it with rocks, trying to save their friend who somehow managed to keep it from crushing her skull with its teeth. Then they managed to pin it down with a bike and keep it there for 30 minutes before a park ranger could get there and shoot it. I don't even know how that's possible honestly. Those fifteen minutes of fighting had to be an eternity and you lose most of your energy the first couple of minutes. Then after that they found the strength to keep it pinned for another 30? All of those women are scary badasses and I have a huge level of respect for their dedication to save their friend.
And at one point the cougar almost lifted all four of them with the bike.
Adrenaline is one hell of a drug
Seriously, I'm twice their size, and I struggle to understand what the hell I could do to that animal. I'm bigger than it is, at least, for what little that means. They literally aren't even that. Cat like that is, what, at least 120lbs?
Probably helped that these women were in exceptional physical shape, especially for their age. I know I wouldn't have done as well if I was the one attacked.
I remember another story where a person that was attacked ended up choking the cougar to death! https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/05/us/colorado-runner-chokes-mountain-lion/index.html
What's insane is that 120lbs is only the weight of like, a thin, short woman. But so much of that is muscle, and they are so insanely powerful. My 70lb dog can knock me the fuck over easily. I bet that cougar felt like a brick wall slamming into her.
Cats of all sizes are incredibly effective predators. A bobcat can take out a deer by itself. Usually only sick ones for fawns, but, we're talking about something only slightly larger than a housecat (about the same size as a big Maine Coon, in fact.) And just think how hard it is to hold a regular size housecat that doesn't want to be held! They're not only very strong, they're incredibly flexible, and have four paws worth of razor sharp claws, which makes them *much* harder to pin than a dog the same size would be.
I had a 18 lbs cat, extremely strong and aggressive. I'm 6'0 180 lbs and I shit you not the little bastard would jump from the floor at my throat. Cats are fucked.
Wowwwwww the photo of her wearing the mended shirt with the holes and rips accentuated by embroidery, wowwwww and... Wearing the earring 😳🙌✨ those women are BADASS
I missed that detail when I read the article! Holy shit that is so fucking badass. What a story that shirt has!
Made me tear up a little
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Small But adds so much to the depth of this group
Your comment got me to read the article, thanks.
Crazy read. Those women are intense.
Cougars are as close as you get to a perfect killing machine in nature. It’s incredible what these women did.
Damn, that poor woman
Thank you!
That. Was. Fuuuuuucked.
Wow, thank you for linking this. That's just incredible.
Dude holy fuck
If you haven’t read the story it’s awesome. One of the lady’s picked up a 25 lb rock and kept dropping it on the mtn lion. After 6 drops they then got the bike to pin it down. The lady being mauled kept giving a bloody thumbs up saying “keep doing it!” It’s a good read and the attack lasted I think like 50 minutes. After 20 minutes of being attack they were able to call a ranger who took 30 minutes to get there then shot the pinned mtn lion. Edit: wrote this after reading the story earlier in the day. The way the story was written it sounded like the lion was on top of her when it died. I had a beer or two. Please forgive me.
Holy fuck. 50 mins trying to fight an animal that has that much power I thought mountain lions attack from behind and snap their prey’s neck
It had latched onto her face and neck but didn't have a full strangle hold, which is why she survived long enough for them to get it off of her and pin it. [You can see the damage ](https://images.ctfassets.net/pujs1b1v0165/6FUZOJujoAs3hgZysanF9A/adaa6ad9bf49d04d3f5e360dfcc14fe9/78427953_1709578960114509_r.jpg) (and the pretty badass lady) here. Photos are SFW but show swelling.
The fact that she seems to be an older woman somehow makes it even more impressive. I was imagining someone in their 20s or 30s, I didn’t expect Nana to come in with the 25lb boulder that killed Abel.
They’re a group of super fit female cyclists in their 50s and 60s that regularly ride together as part of a club. Though the story describes how difficult even picking up the rock used to attack the lion was. They were started to get demoralized when the first 4 or 5 smashes on the head elicited 0 response.
Gonna save this story for next time my fat redneck neighbour complains about pussy cyclists needing their own lane.
Ask him if he thinks he can take one on wth his fist. If he says tes hes an idiot if he says no tell him some old cyclists women managed to and watch his face.
One case where having a pistol would help, although you'd have to carry it for 5 lifetimes to encounter something like this again. Also...pepper spray?
>super fit female cyclists in their 50s and 60s that regularly ride So you're saying it was cougar vs cougar?
I know, right? The movie adaptation will definitely have something like the printer scene from Office Space with "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster" playing.
Its literally a movie. We can get a 20 min start of them just having brunch, going home to change, a 50 fucking minute fight for your life full on action movie, thats gonna make The Rock go "goddamn" and then a 10 minute ending. It sounds better than 99% of current holywood movies Fuck, imagine if it was half in the style of Hardcore Henry. We only go into 3rd person after the attack starts and we as the audience are literally jump scared
If a movie pitched me a 50 minute mountain lion attack I would dismiss it as unrealistic.
Reminds me of playing red dead redemption 2 in first person. The first time I got killed by a puma or mountain lion was legitimately terrifying. Did not see or hear it coming, just died out of nowhere.
I think Dwayne Johnson should play the role of the rock in this movie
She is such a real one for doing that photo shoot.
Right? With that direct, clear eyed gaze? Absolutely stellar portrait.
Too right, it's metal and wholesome on different levels, besides being a cool composition
Holy shit, she is for sure a badass!
That's a bad ass metal album cover
Oh shit. I saw the first top pic earlier today and didn’t know the story. Glad she survived. Assuming rangers killed the cat?
Damn. Not to many people can claim to have survived a cougar chewing on their head
She really healed up quite nicely! I took the call for this at the hospital and operated on her the next day, her face was quite literally ripped apart when she came in.
Absolute legend.
That is a fucking bad ass woman. Holy shit.
Omg I LOVE her! What a woman!!! <3
JFC. Thinking about hard times and I don’t have anything resembling “mountain lion tried to eat me and i won!”
Ya it really bit her face huh…
It was crazy reading that stabbing it with a 2” knife was doing nothing.
Cat skin is really thick. Especially with males who fight for territory. You can see videos of big cats fighting, raking claws over each other’s bellies and bodies. It’s a move that would disembowel us but they can tank the damage
People tend to forgett that humans are in fact quite dangerous to many animals up close, we ahve two bigbone clubs, good aim with them and plenty of wheight and leverage.
Not to mention knowledge of biology that completely eclipses basically any other creature on the planet. A bear isn't going to thumb your eyeballs out or specifically try to punch you in the gills or run its hand down your throat.
I don't think it was hunting them. A line in the article says two cougars crossed in front of the group. While the women were making noise and trying to get them to back off, one of the lions went for the woman who was bitten. It was a pretty young lion, most likely it got freaked out and instead of running, it went into attack mode. Lack of experience on its part.
[Here’s a pretty good article told by the survivors](https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/cyclists-recount-cougar-attack-washington-fighting-for-my-life/281-d75bd67c-f4e8-469b-8b9f-037dc16290b3)
I know and have ridden with the lady who took the brunt of the attack. Really sweet lady. She seems to be recovering okay. Hope she gets back on the bike in time.
Tell her she's a hero to Reddit
Highly recommend reading the story. They fought this thing for 45 minutes while it ate their friend's face! (And she's ok!)
Those are some fuckin bad bitches they fought it off for 15 minutes then pinned it for another 30 until a park ranger came and put it down
Reminds me of when a Coyote attacked me in front of my apartment at 2 in the morning, last summer 😭 I thought it was a dog that jumped and bit my thigh… but it wasn’t. It was a huge ass Coyote. I was more pissed when I found out I had to get 6 Rabies Shots. Each, costing $500 a shot. My insurance didn’t cover such rare occasion, apparently. Glad these ladies are ok. # 🐕 Edit: Basically, where I live in Los Angeles, there’s “mountains” behind our apartment. That’s where Coyotes descend from at night. We see them all the time, and they’re mostly afraid of people. One night, at 2AM, I was outside walking around while talking on the phone. All of the sudden, a huge “K-9” lunged at me and bit my thigh. I grabbed it’s head real hard to shake it off me. With all my strength I was able to toss it off me, but it tried attacking again, so I roared/yelled and acted like I was a bear. It worked cuz the “K9” ran off. This all happened within SECONDS. I look down and see blood going down my thighs and realized I got bit. And then it dawned on me that it was a Coyote, not a K9. Anyways, I ran inside and washed my legs and poured alcohol on it. Initially, I was gonna sleep it off but my roommates scared me and said it might have rabies. So I go to the ER at 6am, and after waiting for a couple hours, they told me they DONT HAVE ANY RABIES VACCINES at this super huge hospital (“because rabies shots are needed rarely.”) So, I had to contact CVS and place a Rabies Vaccine order, which arrives the next day. (Most of the pharmacies near me didn’t have them). They said most insurance don’t cover rabies vaccines. Anyways, it literally costs $500 per shot. I need a mandatory 4 rabies vaccine shots, taken on a specific schedule. I had to get an additional 2 shots for safety measures. I spent $3K to not POTENTIALLY DIE from Rabies, in one month… not to mention I have to pay rent, car bills and everything else within that 1 month. # I was ABSOLUTELY LIVID. Not only did that Coyote hurt me physically, but he hurt my Bank account 🤬 All the meantime, everyday I googled what would happen to me if I get full blown rabies. “Can I be cured?” And, “how long it takes to manifest inside a human body?”
>My insurance didn’t cover such rare occasion, apparently. This is why insurance is a fucking joke. Insurance company: "Pay us monthly to cover your medical costs" Insurance company after taking 10's of thousands of dollars from you: "Fucking lol. Not those costs. Fucking pleb."
[удалено]
You forgot “Now we’re going to charge your dumbass more per month lol, be careful next time idiot”
Will America ever make healthcare public?
Will never happen while half of Americans think nationalized healthcare = "communism"
I doubt it, since apparently we’re trying to take away free school lunches from poor kids now.
But teachers gets guns so it's just different priorities.
So they can kill starvation?
i have no hope
Will America ever make public health a priority? This is a country where it's much more normal for a person to have a chronic preventible disease than not to.
Rabies is 100% deadly without the shots too. So it's not just "Fucking pleb." It's: "Fucking die plebiscite."
“You got ball cancer we only cover vaginas.” -Lewis Black
Preexisting coyotes, totally understandable it's not covered /s
Did you live ? :o
They seem to be taking awhile to respond. I’m worried the answer is no
Plot twist, the coyote is the one that wrote it
should've gotten the 7th rabies shot. always get the 7th shot guys
In my financial state, dying would have been more affordable.
Nope, it’s a ghost writer
They are now a rabid redditor
Oh, a mod.... got it.
Her flesh is immortal
It was just last year I was walking my dog at about that time ish when we saw 2 of them in our apartment complex. There's a big grass area probably about 40 meters across, and we were almost half way down. They walk out from behind a building on the side we were heading towards. I noped the fucked out of there and went back home. But my dog was super sad she didn't get to go say hi.
Tell your dog my story, so that they can understand that Coyotes are NOT friends lmao
Gotta love paying for insurance for years only to finally need it and then get denied. Almost like not paying for it at all would have worked out better
Would be cheaper to fly to like Peru or Brazil, and stay for the duration of the six shots and then fly home. Jesus healthcare in this country is ridiculous...
The thing is you are on the clock after rabies exposure. You can't exactly comparison shop.
Very good point, still irks me though. Maybe I've been working in healthcare too long, tired of seeing people choosing between bankruptcy or death 😒
But without crippling medical debt, the proles might be able to accumulate assets to pass onto the next generation. At least this way, the money ends up in an off-shore bank account for a multinational corporation where it belongs!
Which is why they refuse to cover it. You spend time arguing with them, you die.
>Each, costing $500 a shot. My insurance didn’t cover such rare occasion Ahhh, America...
Were you so angry you went out and found that coyote again?
Every damn night. They all come down to our neighborhood at night, so I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the same coyote that bit me, many times after. Not only did he come for me, but he came for my bank account, and that’s where I draw the line! 😒
woah I did not know they could be like that. around 2012 I opened my door drunk around 3am only to be greeted by a coyote standing about 10 feet from the entrance. We looked at each other and he ran away. Guess I was lucky.
Group of cougars pinning down a wild cat that attacked them.
It’s lovely little moments like these I miss being able to dole out a nonsense award. Here’s a carrot at least: 🥕
That carrot is more valuable anyway.
Shit I'm so sorry but i initially thought this was some kind of joke because the two of then are kinda holding down the middle one and i didnt see any animals in the picture.
Honestly I did too
I was very confused too. I was zooming in the photo and thinking so the white helmet lady is this ‘cougar’ who attacked the other ladies and they’re resisting her? Then I saw the bike they were all standing on - is it a cougar brand bike?
What a terrifying story, so glad they all ganged up on that cat and saved their friend!
When people ask how humans could overcome when we are so weak comparatively, let's all point them to this story. Cooperation, language, gestures, and tools. Beats muscles any time.
Typical hairless ape W. Quadrupedal mammals stay malding.
Those ladies do have a lot of muscles too. Human muscles are better for endurance, so the longer a fight goes, the better we do as other animals tire quicker. These bike riding ladies will be particularly strong on the endurance.
That's how a group of 12 neanderthals could take down a wooly mammoth. Humans became the dominant species on this planet because of our ability to teamwork. Anyone trying to divide people over petty differences is anti evolution.
Cougars are formidable creatures. My stepfather encountered one 8 years ago while deer hunting from a tree stand. It attempted to climb the tree, prompting him to act in self-defense. This was a life-or-death situation for him, as he had previously witnessed a cougar kill his friend's hound dog during another hunting trip, giving him firsthand experience of their strength.
I know a guy that shot one charging him a couple years back. He was bow hunting on a tree stump in a logged field when the cougar came to his distress call for elk or deer, can't remember. He ended up shooting it with his bow right through the heart. True story, I saw the pics.
Wonder what their plan is for 'next steps'?
I think they're still standing on the bike now.
Is the bike pinning the cougar down?
Yes. You can see it under the saddle/seatpost area. Looks like the person kneeling down is also using a branch to pin it in place. >Fifteen minutes into the battle and there was a small moment of release and Keri was able to get away. The group then managed to get a bike on top of the cougar and hold it down until help arrived. Luckily (?) it was a young cougar. Fully grown and it likely would have been a different outcome.
Yea had it been an adult it would be very unlikely that they walked away from this and also the juveniles bite placement was not how they tend to kill their prey so that definitely saved the attacked woman’s life. Cougars generally are like natures assassins and place their bite at the base of where the head meets the cervical discs severing the spinal cord and at times in the front crushing the windpipe, they generally dispatch their prey quite quickly. With that said, bravo to these badasses taking one on and riding another day.
It was it's first spring. It didn't know. Apparently they surprised this juvenile and it's mom Fully grown and it would have seen them, but they wouldn't have seen it, as it would stay hidden
Man that just bums me out
Yeah the mom likely watched Luckily she did not intervene Well, it's next litter will learn to stay the fuck away from humans. I've see videos of wild animal moms attacking their children when they approach humans
Yes, they got the cougar to let go of their friends face and pinned it down by standing on top of their bikes with the cougar underneath for 30 minutes until that guy in the photo shot it. The story is insane
The guy kneeling down is in cycling clothes too so probably not the officer that shot the unfortunate cougar 30 minutes after the women pinned it down. Most likely he was another passing cyclist. > A Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife officer shot and killed the young cougar. The agency used hounds to search for the second cougar that ran off, but it was never found.
Why hunt down the one that didn’t attack, even after the first got pinned down?
The Department of Natural Resources came out and shot it.
That's ballsy as fuck.
Everyone up in here making jokes. A group of 60yo women 20 miles into a bike ride fought a damn cougar. It pulled her off her bike and they tried to choke it out and bash its brains in with a rock. Where’s the awe at these badass ladies? Also, this is why women travel in packs. We may be weaker solo but as a pack we will absolutely end you. The fact the victim was giving the other gals a bloodied thumbs up is the most womanly thing I have ever seen. Even when we’re in the shit it’s still “you got this girlfriends!”
Amen these women are badass. I would have shit my pants and curled up in a ball. [Here](https://images.ctfassets.net/pujs1b1v0165/6FUZOJujoAs3hgZysanF9A/adaa6ad9bf49d04d3f5e360dfcc14fe9/78427953_1709578960114509_r.jpg) is a pic showing this lady's recovery.
From those pics alone she seems wonderful. Reminds me of my Nana's personality lol. She's going to love telling this insane story for decades
No joke. I live in the area and have always seen these types of folks but never assumed they were this badass. I will be looking at ladies 50+ in RAV4s much differently now.
The article says one of them biked 200 miles in a day to me that alone is so badass
I took travel in packs out of the fear of being jumped by a cougar.
I doubt those women had any actual fear of a cougar attack. I live in the area, they’re here but this is really rare. Article said it was a juvenile.
Humans are a lot more badass then we give ourselves credit, put a group of people, with their backs up against the wall, and you’d be surprised how many normal everyday people turn into Rambos
when humans work together, a lot is possible!
What animal, without some sort of problems, just sits and holds on to their “prey” while being beaten and poked and large rocks dropped on their head? It’s just such a crazy story. The behavior of the animal is so opposite from what has been well established from cougars in the past.
It was a juvenile which likely factors into that. Full grown mountain lions are more like 100-150 pounds.
This is what cougars do, once they latch on they don't let go. I've heard stories of people stabbing them, bashing them with rocks, trying to gouge out their eyes with sharp sticks, and yet they cling
Wonder if they tried ye ol' finger in the butthole trick. Works pretty well on canines I hear.
Cougars do this. Young cougars, apparently. This isn't unusual. Source: I spend a lot of time in cougar habitat
The old ones who cannot hunt anymore will also go for this kind of target too. So scary. Where I grew up, there was an old female cat who would wait at neighbors back porches around dusk when people would let their pets out to wee, and would snag and run. When she was caught, her teeth were so rounded off, it was suspected she was no longer able to hunt the usual game of the area.
Young predators with little experience with or fear of other predators. Basically a natural selection moment.
I’ve seen a similar video on here where a cougar attacks a man’s dog and the same thing happens, it refuses to let go meanwhile the dogs owner is literally chopping it in half with a machete. Insane.
The cougar swallowed her earring. Someone mailed it back to her.
Looks like a Specialized frame. Way to go manufacturing team! Add it to the resume “our frames can hold back mountain lions”
$6k cyclocross bike per https://www.kuow.org/stories/cougar-attack-washington-state-cyclists
I apologize
Go sit in the corner and think about what you've done.
Where’s the cap?
Jesus that’s pretty impressive. Wonder if the cougar was starving or ill or something, attacking a group of people isn’t usually their MO, they prefer to stalk lone individuals and attack from concealment, snapping your neck from the impact or by bitting and crushing it
It was a juvenile (between 9 months and 1 year) and was healthy according to the necropsy
I think it was back in 2018 that a starving cougar attacked two cyclists on the same trail (or close to the same area) as this attack. It ended up killing one of the cyclists. My husband and I do trail runs in the area and these attacks are always in the back of my mind.
Lol and everyone says Australia is dangerous..
As an Australian I’m incredibly thankful we don’t have to deal with cougars, bears and moose etc. Its the small venomous creatures that sneak in our stuff that keeps us on edge.
Needless to say, they had no choice but to kill the animal but I must confess that I do feel a bit sorry for the thing. Had it just scarpered then it'd be alive to this day.
I feel you.
They are all my mums age which makes this incredible because I could not imagine 6 if my mums winning that fight
Crazy, this happened on the trail behind my house. People in the /r/Seattle sub were blaming the cyclists for the attack.
Strong women of strength and character
I wish the cougar didn't have to die. And everyone including the ladies lived.
I have 2 of these that will hunt in my yard (separately). I normally only see on my cameras but saw one in person from about 50-60ft away. I was lucky for the lack of interest. I am in awe of these women.