1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:04,320 Hey guys, it's Chris here and I wanted to take a moment and 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,120 shout out our newest Patreon members. 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:12,040 Huge thank you to Dara Rich and Paul Shannon Landry. 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:17,000 Your support truly means a lot and actually helps push me to 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:21,840 keep working 40 to 50 hours a week on this podcast. 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:27,000 So yeah, it means a lot. All that to say, if you're a fan 7 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:31,240 of the podcast, Patreon is not only a great place to support 8 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:35,960 the show, but also gain access to all the episodes completely 9 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:41,120 ad free for just $1.00 a month. Check out our higher tiers for 10 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,600 exclusive content made special for the Unnerved community. 11 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,640 Try it out and you can cancel at any time. 12 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:54,160 Visit patreon.com/unnerved Podcast or click the link in the 13 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:56,880 show notes. Your support really goes a long 14 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,520 way to keep this podcast going and I really appreciate it. 15 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:07,520 Enjoy the episode. Sean said, what was that? 16 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:13,040 And he said, I don't know, there's the trail, let's get out 17 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:17,920 of here. Suddenly it screams again right 18 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:22,720 behind us. I'm going to die from HV Studio. 19 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:46,360 This is unnerved. Welcome back to the Unnerved 20 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,480 podcast. It's where normal people share 21 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,680 their abnormal stories, and if you enjoy true stories of the 22 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,200 strange and terrifying, then you're in the right place. 23 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:06,200 I'm your host, Chris Fricke. When was the last time you went 24 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,360 for a hike in the forest at night? 25 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:15,520 Was it a camping trip, or maybe a midnight stroll to stargaze? 26 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:22,320 Or perhaps this type of activity has never appealed to you. 27 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:28,760 After all, why would you wander into a forest at night without 28 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,920 being able to fully see your surroundings? 29 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,640 It's likely that nothing would happen. 30 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:41,680 But what if someone or something was lurking in the shadows, 31 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,560 waiting for an opportunity to strike? 32 00:02:50,790 --> 00:02:54,750 In today's story, Armani and Sean were on a recreational 33 00:02:54,750 --> 00:02:59,280 night hike when a terrifying cry suddenly erupted near them. 34 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:05,320 As the sound came closer and closer, it was clear they were 35 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:10,080 not alone and the creature stalking them could attack at 36 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,040 any moment. This is her story. 37 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:19,400 My name is Harmony Lawrence and the story takes place in 38 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,320 Olympia, WA at The Evergreen State College. 39 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,800 Back when I first started college, our campus had about 40 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:35,040 1100 acres of forest that could be hiked around the campus. 41 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:40,280 But because me and my friends frequently we're busy during the 42 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,800 day with jobs and classes, we usually only got out to hike at 43 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,480 night. So that meant sometimes we were 44 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,840 hiking at 10:00 PM. That kind of became normal for 45 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:53,360 us. So night hikes were normal. 46 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:59,440 So it wasn't unusual for us to get a large group of people 47 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:01,520 together to go on one of these night hikes. 48 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,720 And on this particular day, which was actually the day 49 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,760 before Halloween, we were getting a group together. 50 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,480 And unfortunately, one by one, a bunch of people had to drop out 51 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,399 because there are a bunch of tests taking place soon and 52 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:20,360 people needed to study for tests and things like that. 53 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,240 Eventually it was down to three of us. 54 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:32,560 My friend Colin and then mutual acquaintance friend Sean and 55 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:38,080 Colin eventually dropped out and said OK, I know you and Sean 56 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,160 don't know each other very well, but you guys should still go 57 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,320 hiking. You should still do it. 58 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:55,200 So we did. So when we go out on these 59 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,280 hikes, there's a couple different kinds of trails we 60 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:01,520 could take. There's the big wide main trails 61 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,640 that go through the forest and then there's a couple of side 62 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,520 trails that we've gotten familiar with because we've done 63 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,240 a lot of those hikes. But often times those side 64 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:13,880 trails are a little harder to follow at night because they're 65 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:18,360 pretty narrow at sections. This is back in the day of foot 66 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,240 bones. That's all anyone had. 67 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:27,040 We were probably a couple years out from smartphones and so we 68 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,360 had our two little flip phones and common in college at the 69 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,760 time to just use your flip phone as a quick flashlight from time 70 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,480 to time by flipping it open. So we're kind of doing that to 71 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:44,840 navigate through the woods and we're talking and walking and 72 00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:47,520 heading to this place called the Altar site. 73 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,000 And I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was just this 74 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,960 big log that had fallen down in the woods and kind of hollowed 75 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,720 out a little bit in the center. And college students would put 76 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,680 their random art projects and memorabilia on it. 77 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,720 So we called it the altar site. So we're heading to this altar 78 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:12,520 site, but I start to notice that the trees and stumps surrounding 79 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:18,640 us kind of look familiar. And probably about 40, 5 minutes 80 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,160 into our walk I'm realizing that we are passing the same tree 81 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,440 trunks again and again and we're lost. 82 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:34,640 So this section of woods is surrounded by three roads and 83 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:37,520 water. Water on one side, 3 roads on 84 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:40,560 the rest. So if you walk through the woods 85 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,160 long enough you should be able to reach water or roads. 86 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:49,400 So I wasn't too worried and I pretty much said, well, I think 87 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,160 we're walking in circles so we might as well start walking in a 88 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:54,040 straight line and we'll eventually get out of this 89 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,640 place. So we start bushwhacking in a 90 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:05,000 straight line. And this is the Pacific 91 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,120 Northwest. So bushwhacking in the Pacific 92 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:12,920 Northwest is very bushwhacky. And there are salao plants that 93 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,120 grow really tall and get really hardened by the wind storms we 94 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,360 have. And there's big evergreens that 95 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,520 we were kind of bonking into the branches of. 96 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:26,880 And then there's marsh and rivers. 97 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,160 And I'm pretty sure in the next 45 minutes we walked through 98 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,400 about 3 marshes and two rivers on our way through the woods 99 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,720 trying to find our way out. So we're sopping wet pretty much 100 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:45,160 from our calves down and pretty blustered from going through all 101 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,680 these bushes. Suddenly we come out onto this 102 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:53,160 really big, wide trail. I was super excited because I 103 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,080 was like, OK, we're finally going to get out of the woods 104 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:02,120 and by this point it's kind of edging closer to midnight and we 105 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:06,080 start to follow this trail along and then it kind of meanders 106 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,320 into this Meadow. It's kind of opening with grass 107 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:12,800 in between the trees and we kind of lost sight of the trail at 108 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,720 that point and it kind of seemed to become thin and kind of go 109 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:17,000 through the center of the meadows. 110 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,240 So we kind of followed that along and weren't really sure 111 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,840 where to go and thought we saw the trail heading into the woods 112 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:30,760 on the other side and we headed into the dark patch of woods on 113 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,679 the other side to try and follow the trail in there. 114 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:35,520 We were already discovering this. 115 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,400 This isn't going anywhere and we're about to turn around when 116 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:59,240 suddenly we heard we just kind of froze, Sean 117 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:01,280 said. What was that? 118 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:11,440 And then I said, I don't know, it kind of sounded like a pig 119 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:18,120 bird woman combined screaming. And it was so quiet and crisp 120 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:22,680 out that night in October. It just sounded so loud through 121 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:25,640 the woods. And then I said, let's go back 122 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,480 into the Meadow where we can see things. 123 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,880 We just kind of bumped our way back out of the woods into the 124 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,280 middle of this Meadow and we're just kind of standing there, not 125 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:37,880 really sure what to do at this point. 126 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:44,040 One of our phones is dead and the other one is low on battery 127 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:49,280 and I could kind of hear underneath this big cedar tree 128 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:52,920 kind of in front of us down the Meadow a little bit, a big 129 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:59,560 cracking stud. And then I saw the branches kind 130 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:03,600 of move on the tree. Didn't really know what to do 131 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:08,720 with that data at the time. Suddenly it screams again 132 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,760 and it just went on for up to 10 seconds. 133 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:27,200 It felt like forever. I turned to this man that I 134 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:31,080 hardly know and I hug him because I think at that point I 135 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:35,640 was like, I'm going to die. This is the last hug I'm going 136 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:37,800 to get. Might as well make the most of 137 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,040 it. And when I hugged him, I noticed 138 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:47,200 behind us the trail kind of went around the bend and continued up 139 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,560 through the trees, which is why we missed it when we walked 140 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:52,600 straight into the Meadow. And I was like, there's the 141 00:10:52,600 --> 00:11:01,720 trail, let's get out of here. So we start walking back-to-back 142 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,680 up this trail. Sean was walking forward, I was 143 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:09,400 walking backwards. And I had the only working phone 144 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:13,360 at this point, and it was low on battery, So I was just opening 145 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,840 my phone and closing it and kind of flashing it behind us to just 146 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,280 kind of make like a spot of light every once in a while so 147 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:22,600 that I didn't completely drain it all at once. 148 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:27,760 And it's October, There's leaves on the ground. 149 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:32,320 The leaves have all been trampled on this main trail 150 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,280 section pretty well. So when you're walking down the 151 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:39,320 center of the trail, over all these leaves that have fallen on 152 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,600 the ground, you don't hear any sound because they're all 153 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,760 flattened. But on the sides of the trail 154 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:50,480 there are fresh, crisp, crunchy chunks of leaves that haven't 155 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:53,080 been tread on. When I'm walking backwards up 156 00:11:53,080 --> 00:12:00,400 this trail, I am hearing this thing crunching into the leaves 157 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:14,680 on one side of the trail, and then I'm hearing silence, and 158 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:20,600 then I'm hearing crunching on the other side of the trail and 159 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:25,200 it's kind of moving slowly back and forth between the sides of 160 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,800 the trail and the leaves. I would say it was no more than 161 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,120 15 feet away. It was really dark in the woods. 162 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:38,200 We're probably about halfway up this trail or even a little 163 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:46,200 further, and suddenly hear it scream again and it was right 164 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:54,600 behind us. Sean started running and I 165 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,600 started running too. And I'm wearing a hat and it 166 00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:59,800 falls off my head. And I'm not joking. 167 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,560 I went back for it. Stupidest thing I've probably 168 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:04,880 ever done. Get my hat. 169 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,560 And we just ran for 20 seconds straight. 170 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:12,640 Suddenly we came out of the trail into this really big 171 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,840 Meadow that we are familiar with, and it's right next to the 172 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:17,720 road. So we just ran all the way 173 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:22,320 across that Meadow to the road and then started walking back to 174 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:27,400 campus. I just remember we were just 175 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,680 completely shook up at this point when we're walking. 176 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,560 And I was like, I've never heard anything like this in my life. 177 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,800 I don't know what this was. I spent a lot of time in the 178 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,120 woods. This is a new one for me. 179 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:45,360 And while we're walking up, you can hear something scream, but 180 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:50,960 it's way far away at this point. Further out in the woods, we 181 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:52,960 just kept heading back to campus. 182 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,280 And by this point, it's like, you know, Halloween day, we're 183 00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:59,520 like, OK, this is crazy. We'll talk about it in the 184 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,080 morning. Let's just go to sleep in our 185 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,160 respective rooms and we'll figure this out. 186 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,600 That night I went back to my room and I have a roommate. 187 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:14,280 So I'm like quietly, you know, under a blanket, pulling out my 188 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,400 computer and trying to, like with headphones, listen to 189 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,760 different bird sounds on YouTube, trying to figure out 190 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:27,480 what this thing was. The next day we all get together 191 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,240 and we're talking about what happened and people just went 192 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:34,040 nuts over it on campus. And we're like calling it the 193 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:36,160 Banshee in the woods. Like somebody wanted to make a 194 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,920 documentary out of it. We took people back through the 195 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:41,320 woods to try and, like, retrace our steps. 196 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,640 And we think we did a pretty good job, at least to the point 197 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,600 where we found the main trail, couldn't really figure it out 198 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,720 past that point. And it just kind of settled into 199 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,520 this thing where for a couple years we just told this story to 200 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:58,760 people. We'd be like, yeah, it was here 201 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,960 and we heard the sound and we kind of recreate the sound. 202 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:06,760 And then finally, I was talking to a friend of mine who grew up 203 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:11,400 in the woods of the Olympic Peninsula. 204 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:13,840 He's like, Oh yeah, I've heard that sound before. 205 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:20,640 That's a cougar. Well, sure enough, I look up 206 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,880 cougar sounds because I hadn't even really considered a cat by 207 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:25,760 that point. I was still stuck on the idea It 208 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:30,560 could have been a bird and it was definitely cougar sounds. 209 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:39,240 After that, Sean and I did end up dating and getting married 210 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,520 and now we have a kid. I could say that trauma bonded 211 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:47,440 us for a long time after that incident. 212 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:52,960 I actually had a bit of PTSD in the woods where anytime we go 213 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,680 out at night and I'd hear any sound that I was unfamiliar 214 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:03,360 with, I would just freak out and panic and they essentially get 215 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:05,760 on my hands and knees and beg people to Get Me Out of the 216 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:08,440 woods. And that's not a response that I 217 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,720 had had before this point. I'd actually spent a lot of my 218 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:18,000 childhood around the woods, even taking night walks and being 219 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:26,640 alone out there since then. It's been about a decade and 1/2 220 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:33,200 in 2006, actually, and it took me a really, really long time to 221 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:38,280 get comfortable going out in the woods again, especially at 222 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,120 night. And I actually had my first 223 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:46,440 backpacking trip since that incident, like in the true 224 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:53,120 Backcountry area last fall. And I did all right. 225 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,200 In fact, it was kind of crazy that night. 226 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,080 There's everything. The entire woods was rising with 227 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:03,720 sounds and big lumbering things, and we even had like some barred 228 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,560 owls get in a fight right above our camp and screech at each 229 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:08,880 other like monkeys. It was nuts. 230 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:11,640 And I did all right. I had to get out of the tent 231 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:13,359 twice that night, go to the bathroom. 232 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:15,880 No freaking out. It was fine. 233 00:17:21,700 --> 00:17:25,900 And this is going to sound crazy, but my husband and I did 234 00:17:25,900 --> 00:17:31,200 talk at one point about this and had discussed how there's just 235 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:33,960 this, like, little tiny bit of fear in the back of our heads 236 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,120 that that cat is still out there looking for us. 237 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:43,840 It's just like, it's totally irrational, but like, having 238 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:49,760 having that moment of extreme fear leaves this mark of there's 239 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:51,800 like this little bit of doom out there. 240 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:57,000 There could be scarier ideas out there of something like Bigfoot 241 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:03,880 or some unknown, but I think the known of being a cougar was 242 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:10,280 pretty terrifying. Harmony and Sean were fortunate 243 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:15,200 enough to escape the cougar that night, but only two hours away 244 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:19,040 from their location. That wasn't the case for Carrie 245 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:23,400 Burgear, just north of Fall City, WA. 246 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:27,760 Harry and her friends were attacked by a young male cougar 247 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:35,600 on February 17th, 2024. Now at 11, new 911 calls have 248 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,240 been released from a group of terrified mountain bikers who 249 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,160 are attacked by a cougar Saturday just northeast of Fall 250 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:42,880 City. The 60 year old who suffered 251 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,480 injuries to her face, neck and Jaws, home from the hospital and 252 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:48,200 recovering Comos Hannah Knowles joins us now. 253 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:49,640 Hannah, you spoke with the two daughters. 254 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:52,520 It's a miracle she's alive. It sure is. 255 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:54,680 I can't even imagine what she went through. 256 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:56,160 Now. This is Carrie. 257 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,120 I spoke with her daughters on the phone. 258 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:00,760 Kendall and Alexa. They tell me their mother was 259 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:05,240 riding with four other ladies when a 75 LB cougar tackled her 260 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:07,920 off her bike and latched onto her lower jaw. 261 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:12,000 In these 911 calls, you'll hear the heroic actions and quick 262 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,680 thinking from her friends as they pry the wild animal from 263 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:17,840 their friend's face. Nine. 264 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:19,920 We get someone was attacked by a cougar. 265 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,080 Where's the cougar up? It's on top of her. 266 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:25,920 They're killing it. New 911 calls from the King 267 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,360 County Sheriff's Office take us back to the trail where a cougar 268 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:31,760 attacked a bike rider near North Bend. 269 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:33,840 They're. With the Stone, Who's killing 270 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:34,800 it? The other people? 271 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:40,200 Mikey Gates. You hear the 911 dispatcher try 272 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,200 to calmly talk to the caller. Your phone keeps breaking up so 273 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,840 I can't quite understand. I know I don't have any service. 274 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,920 I don't know where to go. Through the static chaos and 275 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,800 fear, you hear the caller try to explain their location as the 276 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:54,960 cougar remains on top of their friend. 277 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,720 You're holding a cougar down. They're holding a cougar down. 278 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:09,800 Another call just as frantic. After 15 minutes carries, 279 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,920 daughter tell me the group of women are finally able to pull 280 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:19,720 the animal from the teammates lower jaw with severe trauma to 281 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:21,840 the face and permanent nerve damage. 282 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,640 The daughters say it will be a lifelong battle and a long road 283 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:29,320 ahead to recovery, but for now, as their mom heals at home. 284 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,720 Home, they're thankful she's alive. 285 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,520 Chilling 911 calls there now. Cougar attacks on humans are 286 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:38,240 extremely rare in Western Washington, but experts say that 287 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,480 they do happen. If you come face to face with 288 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,280 the animal, don't run. Face the cougar and talk firmly 289 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:46,240 to it. Try to appear larger than the 290 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:48,520 wild animal. Do not take your eyes off the 291 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,880 cougar or turn your back to it. The idea is to try and convince 292 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,200 the animal that you are not prey but potential danger. 293 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,920 Cougars, also known as mountain lions, will rarely attack 294 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,960 humans. Over the past 100 years in North 295 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:14,240 America, it's estimated that there have been over 126 296 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:21,080 attacks, 27 of which were fatal. As with many predators, a cougar 297 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:25,080 may attack if it feels threatened or if it's protecting 298 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:29,080 its Cubs. Sometimes, if desperate enough, 299 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,880 it could even consider a human easy prey. 300 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:42,280 Cougars are notorious for being master hunters and stalking 301 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:47,240 their prey for miles without being seen until it's too late. 302 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:53,200 Whether they choose to attack is completely up to them, so if 303 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,520 you're hiking during the day or night, be aware of your 304 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:01,440 surroundings and just remember you may not be alone. 305 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,280 Thanks again for listening to Unnerved. 306 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,520 If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your 307 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,280 friends and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. 308 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:24,040 It really helps the show grow and get noticed, so I really 309 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,360 appreciate that. And if you guys want to see 310 00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:30,760 photos related to each episode, including this one, check out 311 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,480 our Instagram at Unnerved Podcast. 312 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:37,480 And if you want to hear more stories and creative content 313 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:42,080 from Harmony and Sean, check out their YouTube channel at Sage 314 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:45,080 and Dandy. Their channel link will also be 315 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:48,920 in the show notes. And for AD free episodes and 316 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:54,960 bonus content, visit patreon.com/unnerved Podcast. 317 00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:58,680 Until next time, take care.