Science and Digital Briefs for May 23, 2018
By Dave Bunting, Shopper Editor
Cougar kills biker near Snoqualmie WA
A cougar attacked two bikers, killing one, in the first cougar attack fatality in Washington State in nearly a century.
The bikers, 31-year-old Isaac “Izzy” Sederbaum of Seattle, and 32-year-old Sonja “SJ” Brooks, also of Seattle, were biking near Snoqualmie, east of Seattle.
The two bikers saw that the cougar was following them. They took correct action, stopped cycling, tried correctly to scare it away, which was to appear as big as possible, talk angrily at it, and use a weapon, in this case one of their bikes, to hit at it.
It did leave them, but soon returned, attacked Sederbaum, taking his head in its mouth. Brooks tried to escape, but the animal then ran after her, and killed her.
Sederbaum, seriously injured, rode his bike to where he had cell service, and called authorities.
Game agents quickly found the cougar with Brooks’ body in its nearby den, treed it with dogs, and euthanized it.
The cougar’s behavior is very unusual- cougars almost never attack humans. They usually very skillfully stay out of sight. But this cougar was emaciated; weighing only 100 pounds, it was about 80 pounds underweight, and likely starving. Its body will be examined by the veterinarians at Washington State University to try to discover why it was so underweight, and whether it has any disease that might explain the extraordinary behavior.
Sonja Brooks was a very valuable person, and we mourn her loss. She was the director of operations at Hillman City Collaboratory, where grass-roots organizations and people share the space, and was a research assistant at William James College in Massachusetts. A Linked-In profile also states Brooks had been the office manager of G&O Family Cyclery in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood. While living in the Boston area, Brooks was a manager at Boston Center for the Arts and a bicycle mechanic. According to the profile, Brooks earned a doctorate in philosophy at Boston University in 2016.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Advice about Encountering a Cougar
Relatively few people will ever catch a glimpse of a cougar much less confront one. If you come face to face with a cougar, your actions can either help or hinder a quick retreat by the animal.
Here are some things to remember:
- Stop, pick up small children immediately, and don’t run. Running and rapid movements may trigger an attack. Remember, at close range, a cougar’s instinct is to chase.
- If your dog fights the cougar, DO NOT enter the fight! Leave the area and the animals!
- Face the cougar. Talk to it very firmly in growling, snarling tones while slowly backing away. Always leave the animal an escape route.
- Try to appear larger than the cougar. Get above it (e.g., step up onto a rock or stump). If wearing a jacket, hold it open to further increase your apparent size. If you are in a group, stand shoulder-to-shoulder to appear intimidating.
- Do not take your eyes off the cougar or turn your back. Do not crouch down or try to hide.
- Never approach the cougar, especially if it is near a kill or with kittens, and never offer it food.
- If the cougar does not flee, be more assertive. If it shows signs of aggression (crouches with ears back, teeth bared, hissing, tail twitching, and hind feet pumping in preparation to jump), shout, wave your arms and throw anything you have available (water bottle, book, backpack). The idea is to convince the cougar that you are not prey, but a potential danger.
- If the cougar attacks, fight back. Be aggressive and try to stay on your feet. Cougars have usually been driven away by people who have fought back using anything within reach, including sticks, rocks, shovels, backpacks, and clothing—even bare hands. If you are aggressive enough, a cougar will flee, realizing it has made a mistake. Pepper spray in the cougar’s face is also effective in the extreme unlikelihood of a close encounter with a cougar.
- A cougar may be killed to protect immediate threats to public safety or immediate threats to property such as livestock (RCW 77.36.030). A person taking such action must have a reasonable belief that the animal poses a threat of serious physical harm, that this harm is imminent, and that killing the animal is the only reasonable available means to prevent the harm.