This is the kind of story we need right now!
So said comedian Seth Meyers during his late Night With Seth Meyers TV program this week, offering his take on the saga of the Chemainus woman who scared off a cougar by playing the Metallica song ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ during July while on a hike near Duncan with her dog Murphy.
Dee Gallant’s fame from the cougar encounter knows no bounds and the story continues to be told and retold worldwide through countless media outlets and on television stations.
Meyers provided a humorous account of Gallant’s actions and reactions when confronted by the cougar.
“I’m impressed as hell with Dee’s courage, but the cougar was not.”
READ MORE: Metallica lead singer glad to be a life-saver for Chemainus woman
“He just stayed and he just stared at me for the longest time and I decided I needed to do something a little more intimidating,” recounted Gallant on the program.
“A little more intimidating?” interjected Meyers. “So what did she do? Growl? Stomp her feet? No, she opened iTunes and selected ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ by Metallica.”
There were howls of laughter from the audience as he set the scene Gallant faced.
“Imagine if you can - imagine seeing a cougar and your first thought being ‘What’s the message I want to convey through song?’” he pondered.
Meyers quipped ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ now appears on the Spotify playlist ‘Songs To Scare Off A Cougar With.”
“So Dee pulled up the song, held her phone in the air and hit play,” he continued. “And as soon as the first few notes rang out, the cougar turned around and darted back into the woods.
“Can you imagine being that cougar? You’re like, “Oh, great. There’s a lady. This will be easy. And then you get closer and you’re like ‘Oh, it’s a Canadian. Even easier.
“And then you’re like oh, (bleep), it’s a metalhead. Never mind.”
Putting himself in that situation, Meyers said he wouldn’t have been nearly as brave as Gallant.
“In the time it took her to make that video, I would have (bleep) my pants, changed them and then (bleep) the new pair.”
Meyers figured the average person would have headed home after the encounter, but marvelled at Gallant.
“She finished her hike playing the same song on repeat the whole time for safety,” he pointed out.
Gallant posted her story on social media after returning home and her video immediately went viral and even prompted a call from Metallica frontman James Hetfield.
“Our world is filled with people unwilling to take action in difficult situations, people who see danger and refuse to do what needs to be done,” Meyers concluded. “But not Dee Gallant. She is a role model for our times.”
And if you don’t agree, he used Gallant’s famous three words from the video she took of the encounter: “I’ll fight you.”
Ironically, Cougars are the nickname of the sports teams at Chemainus Secondary School in Gallant’s hometown.
She also recently played in a music trivia tournament in Duncan under the team name ‘Bad Kitty’, the same words she uttered to the cougar before turning on the Metallica tune to blast him away.
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