Watch the heartbreaking moment an elementary school principal does as he comes face to face with a black bear who climbs out of a dumpster while he was removing a lock…designed to deter bears to startle
- The principal of a West Virginia elementary school came face to face with a black bear
- James Marsh said he removed a locking bar from a dumpster ‘designed to deter bears’
This is the astonishing moment when an elementary school principal came face to face with a black bear as it emerged from a dumpster – despite the lock being specially designed to keep the animals out.
West Virginia elementary school principal James Marsh can be seen opening the dumpster on CCTV footage starting Monday, May 1, before running for his life.
Mr Marsh, principal of Zela Elementary School in Summersville, said he removed a bolt ‘designed to deter bears’.
The bar apparently wasn’t working, and to the teacher’s surprise, a huge bear sticks his head out of the dumpster and looks him straight in the face.
The beast then launches itself at him as Mr. Marsh paws it.
“I love wildlife and bears, but prefer them more than an arm’s length away,” he said.
“Video surveillance later showed the bear wriggling in and out of the dumpster to feed all weekend,” Marsh said.
“I think it had a good meal and a nap, lol!”
Seemingly startled by the encounter, the bear runs into the nearby woods while Mr. Marsh runs across the parking lot in the opposite direction.
At the same time, a colleague of the principal looks out through the back door of the school.
She jumps back behind the door and takes cover when she notices the bear jumping out.
According to local reports, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources gave Marsh the dumpster lock because workers had problems with bears.
The moment James Marsh realized there was a black bear in the dumpster he was opening
CCTV footage from Monday, May 1, shows West Virginia elementary school principal opening dumpster before running for his life
The footage of Mr. Marsh’s encounter with the dumpster-diving bear has been released by the Nicholas County Board of Education.
While no fatal attack by a black bear has ever been confirmed in West Virginia, attacks do happen.
In 2019, an adult black bear was killed after a 66-year-old female named Opal Gillespie was mauled in her own backyard.
Her dog was killed and Mrs Gillespie suffered cuts to her head and neck, along with bruises on her upper body.
According to the North American Bear Center, the approximately 750,000 black bears in the US kill less than one person per year on average.
The main reason behind bear attacks is that bears are protecting their food or cubs, and injuries are usually minor, the National Parks Service says.