vol

1 dead, 1 injured after mountain lion attack on mountain bikers near North Bend KOMO

KD5NRH

Moral of the story: sometimes panicky yet slow-running friends are useful to have.

raria

That may seem like a smart thing to say now to get a few cheap laughs, but remember, that guy was someone's son, husband or even father. Not so funny now is it?

It's very sad when this happens, you don't expect this type of thing, but this is one reason I carry bear spray. I mainly keep it for dogs.

GrainBrain

I'm truly terrified of big cats, if I'm ever in those areas I'm carrying a large caliber handgun no doubt.

This is only the second fatality in 100 years though, so this is obviously a freak accident.

bikemig 

You're pretty safe in Io-way from big cats . . . .

I was cornered once by a mountain lion and stood up on a boulder to convince it that I was not that easily edible. The cat was not that interested in me fortunately. It is a powerful reminder that we are not necessarily on top of the food chain.

bobwysiwyg

Gallows humor at best here.

bobwysiwyg

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List..._North_America

GrainBrain

I was referencing the specific state of Washington, but even from your link only 20 in 100 years makes it extremely rare. The article notes children are a large portion of the victims.

Okay a handgun is overkill, but mace would be handy. We're lucky here in that there's no dangerous creatures really. Yes you could get a rattle snake further south, and there has been a cougar or bear wandering once in a decade. The cougar was shot a few years ago with the bear being hit by a car.

We mtb'd in the Rocky Mountains and I was very aware of how out of my elements I was. Being sure to stay bear safe and stay vigilant on the trails. Wondering what I would do if faced with a large predator. Knowing I had no cell reception except at higher elevations.

Interesting that with bears you play dead, but with cougars you face them and intimidate them.

I would have a hard time returning to the trails if I was forced to face down a cougar!!

Cyclist0108

As someone who fits this description






















I laughed.



This is not to diminish the tragic aspects of the story.

cb400bill

Let's stop the gun talk now.

rumrunn6

[QUOTE=GrainBrain;20350215]Interesting that with bears you play dead/QUOTE] not with all bears, I think

Shimagnolo

There are sometimes mountain lion attacks around here in the Boulder area.
Something to understand is that this is an ambush predator: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambush_predator
It is probably not going to confront you, nor chase you.
Your first clue there will likely be when it sinks its teeth into the back of your neck.

A few years ago, a (very lucky) distance runner I knew was running a trail in the foothills near Boulder when he decided to take a break to sit on a fallen log. As he turned to sit down, he discovered he was being stalked by a mountain lion. He stood up and began yelling at it while raising his arms to make make himself look bigger, (no small feat for a wiry little 140# dude). The cat lost interest and left.

So the first line of defense is to be constantly looking around and remaining vigilant.

fietsbob

Cougar was emaciated, by a huge % of its body weight, ie.... hungry..

gregf83 

salcedo

salcedo

I would think so, but apparently people still die sometimes. I just googled it and Wikipedia says around 200 people die in deer-vehicle accidents every year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer–v...ns#cite_note-2

And there is also this Vox piece on killer animals https://www.vox.com/2016/9/24/130322...r-sharks-bears

rachel120

Technically, you only have to worry about a big cat in those areas if one escapes from a zoo. Cougars are scientifically classified as small cats, same as your house cat.

A friend of mine had a bad run-in with a deer while driving. Without exaggeration, he nearly died a horrible death and he is now permanently disabled. He was in a pretty large pickup truck, and when he hit the deer it wedged under the truck and broke something that controlled steering. My friend, being unable to steer, hit a tree hard, crushed his legs. He smelled gas, managed to get out of the truck and crawl to the other side of the road, at which point the gas caught fire. It'd have sucked if he hadn't managed to get out and get away before the fire happened.

In general though, while cycling, animals are like cars. You keep your eyes open and you take defensive measures if they aren't acting respectful when first encountering you so that you and they don't try to share the same physical space. Just tonight in my apartment complex there were three deer hanging out next to the main road. Two saw me and ran, the third which was the largest stayed right on the edge of the asphalt and looked at me. Yeah, I wasn't playing chicken with a deer that weighed more than me and my bike put together, I was changing my path and speed in case he bolted in front of me.

And as far as this case, cougars are small cats in mind as well as by science. Think about your house cat and the last mouse/spider/companion cat/typical companion dog he saw. If it ran, he chased and played claws out. Fellow cat or companion dog, if they gave the "mom" look he backed down. There was a cougar spotted very near my house (and other people's houses) when I was in high school. It was a rare occurrence at that time, though it was the beginning of cougars moving into that area permanently, and everyone was spooked. Walking that quarter mile along a dirt road and trees to the bus stop was creepy when you could see very large kitty cat prints that weren't there the day before, and even more the next day. My next door neighbor had a little dog, small thing, that was kept outdoors on a leash at night, and for a few nights he just barked his head off. After a few nights, my neighbors realized that there were cougar prints going all the way up to the small dog and then turning around and walking away. Snack size, but he made enough of a fuss to scare the cougar off.

vol

Maybe not so hungry, or it would not have dropped the surviving cyclist's head from its mouth to chase the other.

CB HI

Experts have claimed that most such attacks on humans are by 2 year olds that the mother cougar just kicked out to live on their own.

vol

Some more details and the pictures of the two cyclists. It was a 100 pound male cougar.

indyfabz

[QUOTE=rumrunn6;20351643]Correct. It depends on the situation, the species and how the bear is acting. But the overwhelming majority of the time, you don't have to do a thing. I have seen several black bears in the wild during bike trips, including one huge one last September that was only about 20' away from me looking straight at me. We both survived the encounter in tact. The next day I saw this cute fellow after I spooked him while riding the Pine Creek Train in PA. He fled across the creek but turned to look back at his nemesis that was me. The only dangerous part of the incident is when I nearly crashed after slamming on my brakes so I could stop and break out the camera as he was making his way across the creek. The first photo was from the first enounter. Buddy had raided the dumpsters and later walked out from between the two as I was about to put on my helmet and turn on my lights to leave camp. Easily 500 lbs. Thought it best not to pause for a photo. He went about his merry way after we stared at each other for about 20 seconds. That brown on the left of the photo near the plate is a big pile of scat with a paw print in it. There was another pile about 50' from my tent, suggesting that he had come out of the wood and walked relatively close to my tent as I was asleep.

rumrunn6

[QUOTE=indyfabz;20357290] impressive photo of the bear! we had a bear visit our campsite in NH (near Story Land) in the middle of the night, some years ago. our kids were quite young. I heard rustling right outside our tent. we had been warned about a small rogue black bear & to be sure to keep food locked in our cars. I wasn't sure what to do. woke my wife & we were pretty scared. I decided to try unzipping/re-zipping the tent zipper. that sound was enough to stop the rustling sound. in the morning, we woke to see that the bear had gotten into a paper bag, that had a plastic bag of bagels. emphasis on "had". I checked for tracks & photo'd them & ID'd them at home. sure enough. a small bear, like they warned us about. never saw it tho & maybe that was a good thing!

indyfabz

[QUOTE=rumrunn6;20357395]Thanks. I did nearly wipe out coming to s stop to get the camera out.

Funny you should mention bagels. The first encounter during the trip was at a campground that knew it had a bear problem and didn't care all that much. In fact, if you look at one of the dumpsters you can see a mural and some words making light of the problem. Bettum's Family Campground is the name of the place. It abuts the Allegheny National Forest in PA, a place that's known to have a bear or two or hundreds, yet they don't invest in bear-resistant dumpsters. (It also abuts F.C.I. McKean, which is where actor Wesley Snipes served his tax evasion sentence.) In any event, that night I went to sleep knowing the place had a bear problem but inadvertently left my morning's breakfast--an aromatic cheese and jalopena bagel--in the gear loft of my tent, and my tent fly was off. I think I had stashed it there when I first went to shower so little critters wouldn't snatch it from the picnic table and then forgot about it.

Never had to deal with one while in my tent. That would be unnerving since you don't know what it's doing or how it's acting. Ultimately, black bears are skittish and can often be chased away by banging pots and pans together. Worked well with a young one at Jenny lake in the Tetons when I stayed there during a tour. But again, mist sightings will be brief and uneventful. So many people are frightened and, more importantly, uneducated about the wild.

Saw this skinny old guy during a day ride in New Jersey, which has a healthy bear population for the state's size. He was initially foraging on the side of the road. Probably looking for grubs. I and another guy were descending ahead of the group and initially thought it was a dog as there were houses nearby. As we got closer we realized it was a bear. When he heard us coming he scampered off into the woods. Someone in the group caught a few seconds of video.

vol

Flip Flop Rider

wow, that's riding with a purpose. scary stuff