VANCOUVER ISLAND, British Columbia — A hiker in British Columbia said when all else failed in trying to scare off a prowling cougar, the heavy metal band Metallica came through.
Vancouver Island resident Dee Gallant said she was startled when she noticed a wild cougar stalking her and her 8-year-old dog Murphy last week on an old logging trail in Duncan, British Columbia, according to news reports.
Gallant, who managed to record part of the encounter on her phone, said she did everything she could to scare the big cat off, Global Television News reported, including yelling and waving her arms, but nothing worked. The feline stood its ground.
“Get out of here -- go on!” she yelled at the cougar on the video. “Bad kitty. Bad kitty!” she shouted.
The cat, about 50 feet away from, wasn’t even fazed, she said.
Then she decided to blast Metallica’s “Don’t Tread on Me.”
"I immediately put it on and I held it up high in the air," she told Global News. "As soon as he heard the first note, he bolted. He was just gone."
Gallant said she and Murphy finished their hike, but admitted she was more nervous about the big cat after the encounter than during it.
“We stayed in the middle of the road, we made a lot of noise, and I talked to Murphy the whole way,” she said.
As for Metallica said, she said she knows exactly what she’d say to the band of given the chance.
“I would definitely give them all a big hug and thank them for saving my life,” she said.