Black bear startles principal by leaping out of school trash bin.

West Virginia School Principal Gets Up Close and Personal with a Black Bear

Who Says Principals Don’t Deserve Hazard Pay?

James Marsh, the principal of Zela Elementary School in West Virginia, got the surprise of his life when he went to unlock a large trash container on Monday. As he unlatched the lid, a black bear poked its head out of the receptacle, sending Marsh running for cover.

The incident was caught on surveillance footage and shared on Facebook by the Nicholas County Board of Education. The clip shows Marsh coming face to face with the bear, which leaped out of the dumpster after he had unlocked a bar over the trash container.

“That was a big surprise. I was not expecting that,” Marsh told WSAZ 3. “You throw trash in a dumpster and you throw things in it, but you really don’t expect things to come out.”

Despite the scary encounter, Marsh said the clip of the bear has since gone viral at the school, with the kids calling it “hilarious.”

The Bear and the Principal Were Equally Surprised

Marsh thinks the whole incident was “equally” surprising to both him and the bear. “When you’re that close, they don’t seem that friendly.”

After he unlocked the container, Marsh could be seen taking off running — but another person standing by an open back door also quickly reversed course and closed the door, leaving the principal to deal with the hairy situation alone. The bear then ran off out into the nearby woods, and the person unlocked the door and directed the school principal to come inside.

In the later portion of the clip, both Marsh and the person by the back door appeared to be catching their breath and noting to each other just how scary the situation had been.

Watch the Video Here:

A school principal was quick on his feet after a surprise close encounter with a bear in West Virginia. James Marsh was unlatching the lid of the bin outside the Zela Elementary School in Summersville when he came face-to-face with a bear that was trapped inside. The surveillance… pic.twitter.com/gMqu4ctty7

• Principal James Marsh had a close encounter with a black bear in West Virginia
• The bear was trapped inside a large trash container
• Marsh was caught off guard when the bear poked its head out of the receptacle
• The incident was caught on surveillance footage and has since gone viral at the school
• Despite the scary encounter, Marsh and the person by the back door were able to escape unharmed

Don’t mess with the principal of Zela Elementary School, he’s got some serious survival skills!