Two cyclists try to scare cougar but it attacks them, killing one

SEATTLE: The two mountain bikers did what they were supposed to do when they noticed a mountain lion tailing them on a trail east of Seattle.

They got off their bikes. They faced the beast, shouted and tried to spook it. After it charged, one even smacked the cougar with his bike, and it ran off.

It wasn’t enough, authorities said. When they got on their bikes again, the cougar returned, biting one of them on the head and shaking him. The second cyclist ran, and the animal dropped the first victim and pounced on him, killing him and dragging him back to what appeared to be its den, King County sheriff ’s Sgt Ryan Abbott said.

“They did everything they were supposed to do,” Abbott said Sunday. “But something was wrong with this cougar.”

The attack on Saturday near North Bend, in the Cascade Mountain foothills 48km east of Seattle, was the first fatal cougar attack in the state in 94 years.

The 31-year-old Seattle man who was bitten first survived.

After the cougar attacked the second man, the first managed to get on his bike and ride off, looking back to see his friend being dragged into the trees.

When rescuers arrived, it took about half an hour to find the second victim, who was dead with the cougar on top of him in what appeared to be a den-like area.

An officer shot at it, and it ran off. Several hours later, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife agents used dogs to track it to a nearby tree. They shot and killed it.