NEWS BLIPS
Cougar In Washington Woods Encounters Two Bikers and The Outcome Is Not Pretty
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through The Washington Post's website.
S.J. Brooks and Isaac Sederbaum were mounatyin biking on a trial near North Bend, WA, a foothills town 30 miles from Seattle when they realized that a cougar was following them, reports the Washington Post. The big cat eventually pounced, lunging at Sederbaum’s head and killing Brooks, whom the animal mauled in its den. Alan Myers of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said a preliminary examination of the animal, which has been euthanized, revealed that the 3- to 4-year-old, 100-pound male cougar was slightly emaciated. The attacks Saturday morning — the first fatal one in the state in nearly a century — was uncharacteristic of cougars, which are normally solitary animals that run off when confronted by humans, said Capt. Alan Myers.
According to Kristine Phillips from the Washington Post, "Cougars also usually hunt at night. The attack on the bikers happened in broad daylight, just after 11 a.m. Saturday." Sederbaum, who got away, rode about two miles to find cell reception and called 911. He suffered deep cuts and tears around his head and throughout his body, Myers said. His cheek was torn open. He was taken Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where his condition was later upgraded to satisfactory, according to media reports. “If the cougar attacks, fight back aggressively and try to stay on your feet,” according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Cougars have been driven away by people who fought back.”
For more information by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on the topic, click here.