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.
I totally hear you and respect your decision. That said I think very few of these decisions are as binary as it seems when presented by authorities:
I’m not saying there shouldn’t have been a total ban on that. You’re absolutely right, they should have allowed exceptions. This was also an underhanded law to stop idiots from going into caves and completely trashing them too. You can still get in a lot of caves with owner permission and being part of a club that is known to the state. It’s no longer the go into a cave at any time and do whatever you want anymore though.