Two friends riding their bikes in a mountainous, wooded area of Washington State on Saturday morning were attacked by a cougar, which killed one of them in the state’s first such fatality in more than 90 years, officials said.
The authorities said the two cyclists saw the cougar, a 100-pound male, in pursuit and one of them screamed. They stopped, got off their bikes and made noise to ward it off as people in such situations are advised to do, the authorities said.
At first, it appeared to work. The cougar fled.
But as they were about to pedal away, the cougar returned, Sgt. Ryan Abbott of the King County Sheriff’s Office said. It jumped on Isaac M. Sederbaum, putting its mouth around his head and shaking him. It released him and chased after the other cyclist, Sonja J. Brooks, who had started to run.
As Mr. Sederbaum, who had been bloodied but survived, rode away from the scene, he could see the cougar dragging Ms. Brooks into the woods, Sergeant Abbott said. Mr. Sederbaum later told the authorities that he had to travel about two miles before getting a cellphone signal and calling 911.
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 2:20 pm
by govmentchedda
Marco...
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 8:53 pm
by Shirley
Wow, that looks like it's not that far from Mount Si, which is a very popular (and pretty awesome) hiking spot.
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 7:39 am
by tennbengal
Me with my big brain: They were on bikes, couldn't they just pedal faster?
Me with my bigger brain: Not if they were going uphill, asshole.
Me with a galaxy brain: Just turn around and go downhill and outrun the cougar.
Me with universe brain: (Looks up how fast cougars can run - sees they can do 40-50 mph over short distances) - Holy shit.
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 8:33 am
by Nonlinear FC
Fuck. Obviously, she got the horrible end of that deal, but man...
Dude's gonna need some serious therapy/drugs to move past that shit.
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 8:35 am
by A_B
Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Mon May 21, 2018 8:33 am
Fuck. Obviously, she got the horrible end of that deal, but man...
Dude's gonna need some serious therapy/drugs to move past that shit.
I misread something along the lines, so nvm
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 11:29 am
by P.D.X.
That's terrifying. Our hills here are filled with cats.
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 12:02 pm
by Ryan
First Deadspin comment
Tyrone Slothrop
5/21/18 11:54am
Not to be an asshole, but how hard would it have been for two grown men to fight off an emaciated 100-pound cat?
VERY VERY VERY HARD?
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 12:10 pm
by Pruitt
Ryan wrote: ↑Mon May 21, 2018 12:02 pm
First Deadspin comment
Tyrone Slothrop
5/21/18 11:54am
Not to be an asshole, but how hard would it have been for two grown men to fight off an emaciated 100-pound cat?
The Internet in a nutshell! Everybody knows everything about everything.
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 12:25 pm
by Nonlinear FC
Dude has also CLEARLY never fucked with a cat.
I grew up with cats in the house, usually at least 3 at any given time. If you've never been quick-attacked by a cat, or watched them go after a bird, or get in a scrap with another cat or dog?
They are fucking VICIOUS animals. And I'm not being sarcastic or overselling it. To think of a cat the size of a dog coming after you?
Fuck all of that business.
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 12:35 pm
by Joe K
Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Mon May 21, 2018 12:25 pm
Dude has also CLEARLY never fucked with a cat.
I grew up with cats in the house, usually at least 3 at any given time. If you've never been quick-attacked by a cat, or watched them go after a bird, or get in a scrap with another cat or dog?
They are fucking VICIOUS animals. And I'm not being sarcastic or overselling it. To think of a cat the size of a dog coming after you?
Fuck all of that business.
Yup. My cat is only 10 pounds and had his balls chopped off and he’s still strong as shit. They are incredibly athletic creatures that are perfectly evolved to be predators.
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 12:37 pm
by P.D.X.
Strength/weight ratio is the highest of any mammal. Also, they have an instinctive kill strategy evolved specifically for humans — the jaws around the head thing that the article described.
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 12:38 pm
by A_B
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 12:52 pm
by Steve of phpBB
P.D.X. wrote: ↑Mon May 21, 2018 12:37 pm
Strength/weight ratio is the highest of any mammal. Also, they have an instinctive kill strategy evolved specifically for humans — the jaws around the head thing that the article described.
And (and this is related of course) they are just so fucking quick. And fast.
It's a good thing they can usually be scared off by throwing rocks and yelling, or we'd be fucked.
There's currently an exhibit about the world of spiders at Toronto's massive Royal Ontario Museum.
All over the city, there are banners tied to lampposts publicizing the show - all of which feature absolutely horrifying images of spiders. Horrifying to me anyway...
Re: Nature is Horrifying
Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 12:25 pm
by sancarlos
Pruitt wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 9:04 am
There's currently an exhibit about the world of spiders at Toronto's massive Royal Ontario Museum.
All over the city, there are banners tied to lampposts publicizing the show - all of which feature absolutely horrifying images of spiders. Horrifying to me anyway...
My daughter really dislikes spiders, so she'd hate seeing that. But, it'd be so much worse if it was pictures of snakes in the same town as my mother. She has an amazing phobia for snakes. If she even sees a picture of one in a magazine or sees one on television, she immediately shrieks and looks away in nauseous revulsion. Can't bear to even see one.