REAL PEOPLE/BIG CAT TROUBLE
Battling Back From a Cougar Attack
When an animal pounced, Keri Bergere’s friends rushed to save her
From left, Bilotta, Schmidt-Williams, Bergere, Wolf and Tietz
ANNIE BILOTTA: Five of us were doing a training bike ride on a forest trail near Fall City, Washington, last year when a cougar appeared and pulled my friend Keri off her bike.
Aune Tietz: I was the first to get to Keri. I started yelling, “Cougar!”
Tisch Schmidt-Williams: Erica and I were biking up ahead and heard screams and turned around.
Erica Wolf: My 911 call kept dropping. Annie and Aune were already battling the cougar, which had its mouth locked around Keri’s face.
Cougar under bike
Keri Bergere: His one tooth had sunk into my temple, and another tooth was up under my chin. The pain was searing, but I wasn’t giving up. I stuck my fingers in his eyeball and up his nose.
Aune: I’ll never forget the animal’s determined stare in that moment.
Annie: I went straight for the cougar’s neck; it was like choking a rock. Same thing when I tried prying open its jaw—nothing. I grabbed a paw.
Tisch: I found a big rock and hit the cougar’s ribs with it 20 or 30 times, with no effect. Then I pointed out an even bigger rock near Aune.
Aune: It was a delicate situation. I had to drop this melon-size boulder near Keri’s head. I dropped it multiple times from a squatting position. It wore me out but I kept thinking, You’re not taking my friend from me.
Keri: After about 10 minutes, the cat cinched down and started crushing my bones. He pushed my nose and mouth into the dirt, and I started suffocating. Then there was a moment.
Annie: It was like a miracle. The animal relaxed its bite long enough for Keri to scramble away.
Erica: We used my bike to pin the cougar down, but it was still battling. Aune finally reached 911.
Annie: We’re all small women. A couple of us are 5-2. We all stood on Erica’s bike and waited 30 minutes until Fish & Wildlife came with a gun to dispose of the cougar.
Keri: These women saved my life. They refused to let me die. I spent nine hours in surgery the next day and five days in the hospital. My face continues to be numb.
Tisch: Somehow the rest of us escaped with only minor scratches. But the experience affected us all.
Annie: I don’t have that carefree feeling in nature I used to have, but maybe that’s a good thing.
Aune: If I’m heading into nature now, I’m going with a knife, bear spray, a first aid kit and at least four people.
Erica: I really feel fearless now. Recently, a big dude in a giant truck tried bullying me out of a parking spot, but I didn’t back down. He was shocked and drove off.
Aune: In a weird way, I’m glad this happened at this point in my life. In my 20s, I was wild. The calm that comes with age helped me for sure.
Keri: I feel like I should get “resilience” tattooed. Some people might think I’m an old lady, but honestly, I feel like a total badass. —As told to David Hochman
Keri Bergere, 61, is a health care advocate in Kenmore, Washington. Retired gardener Annie Bilotta, 65, real estate broker Aune Tietz, 60, and attorney Erica Wolf, 52, live in Seattle. Tisch Schmidt-Williams, 59, is a director of strategic sales in North Bend, Washington.