It can be quite terrifying to spot a bear from afar, let alone one that appears right in front of your face. A school principal in West Virginia came face to face with a bear when he unlocked a dumpster outside of the building.
The Nicholas County Board of Education posted a video on Facebook about the incident. The footage showed Zela Elementary School Principal James Marsh removing the latch from a dumpster outside the school on the morning of May 1, 2023.
When Marsh finally removes the latch, the lid of the trash container immediately swings open to reveal a bear inside. Marsh, along with another employee exiting a door when the bear appears, were both able to get to safety as the bear emerged from the dumpster and can be seen running in the opposite direction.
“Who says principals don’t deserve hazard pay?” the Facebook post read.
Marsh guessed that the bear must have managed to squeeze past the dumpster latch to get into the container to look for food. Once the lid closed behind it, it was unable to escape the enclosure.