Posted on 08/07/2019 6:14:00 PM PDT by SJackson
Should you ever have the misfortune to cross paths with a fearsome cougar, one hiker has discovered a survival hack that could end up saving your bacon. The trick? If the cougar starts getting to close to your position, use your phone to start blasting some Metallica at full volume.
That’s what 45-year-old Dee Gallant did while on a recent hike with her dog Murphy on Vancouver Island. She’d gotten a few miles into the woods when she made the scary and life-threatening discovery that a terrifying mountain lion was stalking them.
In an interview explaining what happened next, Gallant said she wasn’t scared. At first. The killer cat was a distance off, but once it started closing in on her, Gallant took action. She tried some of the instinctual things you might think of in the heat of the moment. She first yelled at the cougar, which at least stopped it from getting any closer.
But it didn’t back away, either. It stayed in place, silently analyzing Gallant, unmoving.
She started waving her arms. She yelled out “Get out of here!” and “Bad kitty!” Neither of which worked.
And then she pulled out her phone, scrolled to the loudest band and song she could think of and started playing Don’t Tread on Me, by Metallica.
“So be it / Threaten no more / To secure peace is to prepare for war”
It turns out, that was the right move. Almost as soon as the vocals and bombastic drums kicked in, the cougar scampered away. The whole encounter had lasted around five minutes.
Here’s a video snippet of the encounter:
https://bgr.com/2019/08/05/metallica-song-saves-woman-from-cougar-dont-tread-on-me/
Gallant put on a brave face, telling CNN she thought it was cool to see a cougar for that long — though she kept the song looping for the rest of her hike. She also kept her dog close by.
“So be it / Settle the score / Touch me again for the words that you’ll hear evermore / Don’t tread on me”
“I definitely think Metallica saved the day there, for sure,” she said.
Doesn't have the sense to be afraid of a cougar while holding the cougar's lunch at her side on a leash, but has the sense to scare it off with Metallica.
That cougar clearly has no taste in awesome music. Some of my favorite jams ever
Somewhat prophetic for that song to be played on CNN, of all places, given the red flag push.
It was there for the dog.
She yelled “Bad kitty!” at the Cougar?
Yeah. Sure. That’s the trick.
She should have tried yelling,
“No kitty numnums for you!”
James Hetfield actually called this woman on the phone, he was so blown away by the story. Then sent her a pic to prove it really was him on the phone, and not a hoax.
He was a Pink Floyd fan.
They should call me.
I’ve got a pack of cat hounds.
Chihuahuas.
300 of them.
The yapping drives the cat crazy and it jumps off a cliff.
Hetfield is a good guy, he’s no liberal.
Good thing the cougar didn't see the video - he would have really freaked out.
Sounds like a plot from a. 1970s cartoon like “Kiss saves Santa” or something
I can’t believe the cat didn’t slink off in shame after being called “Bad Kitty”!
Perfect. Exactly what I was thinking.
Yeah, I never liked Metallica, either.
There was a Cougar at the swimming pool in the middle of my little city this year. Must have followed the railroad tracks.
There was one in the Shopko garden center a few years ago.
There are too many of them.
After that nothing else matters.
Sad but true.
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