Metallica鈥檚 鈥淒on鈥檛 Tread On Me鈥� was already on Dee Gallant鈥檚 favourites鈥� playlist.

Now, it must be at the very top after the song helped her scare off a cougar.

Gallant, who鈥檚 from Chemainus, was walking her husky, Murphy, on July 23 on a logging road south of Duncan when a cougar appeared and moved toward them.

鈥淚 just had the feeling I was being watched,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 looked over to the right and there he was.

鈥滻 looked at him and said, 鈥楬ey, you! Stop it!鈥� and he stopped. That鈥檚 when I started filming.鈥�

She kept the video going for what she said seemed like several minutes, starting down the animal. She can be heard yelling: 鈥淕et out of here!鈥� 鈥淏ad kitty!鈥� 鈥淕o on, get!鈥� 鈥淚鈥檒l fight you!鈥�

But none of it worked, so she pulled out the heavy artillery.

鈥淚 quickly riffled through my iTunes and found Metallica鈥檚 鈥楧on鈥檛 Tread On Me,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淎s soon as it started to play, he buggered off into the bush.

鈥淎s soon as he turned sideways, I saw how big he was.鈥�

Gallant said she鈥檚 seen cougars before, and that neither she nor her dog were scared.

鈥淚 guess he didn鈥檛 want to eat anything that leaves a Metallica taste in his mouth,鈥� she joked.

She鈥檚 been inundated with calls from the news media to tell her story about a new method for frightening cougars.

The experience has her thinking about creating a wildlife playlist, with maybe some selections from John Cougar Mellencamp, Def Leppard and the Stray Cats 鈥� to name a few.

Gallant is a regular player in the annual Georgina Falt Memorial Mind Games Music Trivia tournament in Duncan, organized by Don Bodger of Black Press Media as a benefit for the Alzheimer Society of B.C.

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