
A hiker in Canada was approached by a cougar. She blasted Metallica to scare it - LinuxBender
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/02/us/hiker-metallica-cougar-trnd/index.html
======
dole
I hope she paid any applicable fees before playing licensed music for a public
venue.

~~~
omarhaneef
This is why you should carry around a live recording -- they're fine with
that.

------
jamesakirk
"That is, until Gallant opened her phone and chose the loudest band she could
think of: Metallica."

Clearly, Gallant is not a Motorhead fan.

~~~
throwaway3627
I recommend "Overkill."

~~~
injb
The Metallica cover version?

------
greenburger
Cougars in California appear to be afraid of human voices, not surprising as
we are their largest threat. Convincingly demonstrated by this research [1]
PDF [2].

[1]
[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13344](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13344)
[2] [https://wildlife.ucsc.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2019/07/Suraci_...](https://wildlife.ucsc.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2019/07/Suraci_et_al-2019-Ecology_Letters.pdf)

------
robbrit
"Don't Tread on Me" is pretty light as far as Metallica goes. I wonder what
the cougar would have done if she had unloaded "Battery" or "Dyer's Eve" on
it.

------
throwaway3627
As a teenager, I had one those humongous Pioneer radio/amps from the early
80's, a pair of heavy 14"'s and high-end Discman that I blasted "Master of
Puppets." No mountain lions could be found.

------
tejohnso
Is it wise to antagonize dangerous wild animals like that?

I would've left it alone and hoped that it did the same in return.

Then again, if I were to start hiking, I'd probably read up on these things so
I'm not a complete idiot in the wild.

~~~
bargl
I'm a moderately educated on hiking around cougars and bears. But I'm by no
means an expert.

Cougars and Black Bears -> when encountered you want to appear as big and
menacing as possible. You scare them off. AKA if you have a coat you hold it
up like a cape to make yourself appear really big. The best way to approach a
cougar is to scare it off.

Brown Bears -> Make sure there are no cubs between you and the mother bear and
back the fuck away. They are faster and climb better than you. Don't try to
scare them just go away. (Please read up on this before doing it) but with a
bear I believe playing dead is the best way to go when attacked. This is
similar to a bull I believe. A good deterrent with a bear is bear mace, if
Hiking in a place where there is a bear I'd suggest taking some.

Also there's a ton more to avoiding bear meetings but you mostly need to worry
if you see a cub bear.

Edit: if you do start hiking please please do read up on this. Cougars and
bears can and do kill hikers even when treated properly. While not the biggest
risk to your life in the US, it's still a good idea to go forewarned. Also
changed wording in first sentence.

Edit 2: Changed advice to specify brown bear and black bear.

~~~
Ididntdothis
Also if a cougar ever attacks you are supposed to fight back. You can also
throw rocks and sticks at them. With bears you should make noise and if they
attack, play dead (not sure if this is different between black and brown
bears. )

Should add: the number of actual attacks is really low and deadly ones are
even rarer. Probably pretty much every activity you do during a hike is more
dangerous than cougars or bears. Things like driving, dehydration or tripping
and falling. The most dangerous wild animal is probably a tick.

~~~
sixstringtheory
I wrote out a whole response and did a search to double check myself, and
honestly this is a much more comprehensive source. It has everything I was
going to say and much much more: [https://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Bear-
Attack](https://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Bear-Attack).

Still:

\- stay calm

\- don't run

\- know when you're in bear country, and talk or sing at a good volume,
especially in thick foliage

\- brown vs black bears _do_ behave differently, know how to ID them

\- read the guide I linked!

\- talk to rangers if they're available wherever you're going

I've seen bears running and climbing trees, and it's simply incredible what
they're capable of. Above all, cultivate a healthy respect of them before
going into their home...

~~~
Ididntdothis
"I've seen bears running and climbing trees,"

If you have ever considered outrunning or outclimbing a bear watch these to
get an idea of what they can do:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hURgA_BNSGc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hURgA_BNSGc)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vIwNyqIceE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vIwNyqIceE)

------
omarhaneef
I thought the spoiler would turn out to be she played "Nothing else matters"

Edit: I hate to explain these, but the joke is that it is (for them) a slow
ballad, and not the kind of thing you expect to be scary.

~~~
taylodl
I would have gone with "That Was Just Your Life"!

------
throwaway8879
Well at lest she had the good sense and empathy for that cougar to not play
anything from the St. Anger album.

~~~
reificator
I was just going through and adding ratings to all the Metallica songs I have
in Google Play Music the other day.

Not a single other album gets all thumbs down. It's shocking that not only are
their worst songs on that album, but also that there's not a single gem in the
rough.

I mean, I thumbs upped several songs on Load and Reload, and those albums are
rightly considered pretty bad.

~~~
taylodl
The title song is alright. No, not their best, but it's alright. The rest of
the album though? Yeah, no.

~~~
reificator
It's far too repetitive for me, I find it extremely grating.

It is at least more pleasant to listen to than Frantictictictictictictic tock.

------
tucson1234
I got attacked by a cougar once, but I doubt that I would have ever gotten to
1st base with her if I had played something from Metallica. She almost
certainly would have turned away too.

~~~
dheera
Could you please elaborate on your experience -- where and what time of day?
did you see it coming? what did you do when you saw it? what did you do that
ultimately allowed you to survive?

~~~
cvuls
he's just pulling your leg, he's referring to an older woman. they're known as
"cougars". but this lil' thread gave me a laugh.

~~~
dheera
-___- I see

