Thanks to the musical stylings of Metallica, Dee Gallant has walked away safely. To avoid a cougar attack, the woman blasted Metallica. On Tuesday, July 23, Dee took her husky, Murphy out for a walk in Vancouver Island. The two were strolling along a familiar logging trail for their routine evening walk. Unfortunately, this particular walk was out of the ordinary. All of a sudden, Gallant and her dog came across a cougar just 50 feet away. My first thought was, wow that’s really cool. I was excited to see him. You don’t usually see them for very long,” Dee Gallant told Narcity in an interview. As any responsible dog owner would, Dee had Murphy on a leash. “He was on a leash, but a long leash. As soon as the cougar looked really interested I pulled him closer so he was right beside me so we were united,” she said. This cougar didn’t leave as promptly as Dee had expected and she knew she had to do something. “What made me decide to play music is that I realized that he wasn’t going away. The coolness was wearing off, he was looking really intensely at me. That’s when I knew I had to bump it up a notch. I didn’t know what else to do because my voice wasn’t doing it,” Dee told us. View this post on Instagram These were left in the road by a critter that actually dragged its belly across Druin’s face in the middle of the night! Just a thin bit of canvas between him and this young mountain lion. Definitely a memorable experience. #mountainlion #cougar #closeencounters #totem #naturespirit #rangercorps A post shared by Ranger Corps (@rangercorps) on Aug 1, 2019 at 12:26am PDT Dee Gallant So, what made her decide to play Metallica, you may be wondering? “I asked myself what would sound really intimidating to an animal and I thought, oh, yep, heavy metal. I went through my iTunes and found a whole bunch of songs that wouldn’t work. Then I saw Metallica and thought, that’ll work,” she said. Quickly, Dee selected a song. “I popped on Don’t Tread On Me and away he went”. As soon as the cougar heard the song’s first note, it turned and bolted in the other direction. After the cougar was out of sight, the pair continued their walk while staying alert and making tons of noise. After the fact, Gallant feels grateful to Metallica for saving her life. “I’d seen cougars before, but only briefly running across the trail, not actually stalking me, that’s what this was. He was quite interested in me,” Dee recounted to Narcity. View this post on Instagram Who hasn’t seen a black bear in the @whistlerbikeprk. But who’s seen a wild kitty? This one was spotted yesterday. . 📷 @danthemanokeefe from the chair. . #whistlerbikepark #mtb #dhmtb #gravitymtb #cougarsighting #wildcat A post shared by NSMB (@nsmbteam) on Jun 21, 2019 at 2:16pm PDT We commend Dee on her bravery and quick thinking and encourage everyone to stay alert and informed when you’re out and about in the great outdoors. Unfortunately, this incident is not isolated. In April, a Canadian man had to fight off two cougars to save his dog. Bears have been quite a hot topic for Canadians this year, too. Bear sightings have caused closures on several Alberta hiking trails, an American couple needed rescue after a grizzly destroyed their canoe, and (as I’m sure we all remember), a black bear walked right into a busy Alberta restaurant. This is not a drill, wildlife sightings and encounters are happening all over. If you’re not a metal fan, you may need to refresh your music library before heading into the wild. But seriously, carry bear spray and stay informed.
