“West Virginia School Principal Encounters Real Black Bear & Goes Viral on Social Media”

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Created: 05/19/2023 11:59 am

Von: Sophie Kluss

While we have occasional bear encounters, they are not uncommon in America. In West Virginia there was now a meeting of a special kind between man and bear.

School principal James Marsh shot to fame overnight on social media with a video of his bear encounter. Security camera footage shows Marsh unlocking a dumpster in the yard of his elementary school in Nicholas County, West Virginia, when a real black bear jumps out of it.

When Marsh and the bear see each other, the black bear climbs out of the container and they both run away in opposite directions in a panic.

The footage was posted to the Nicholas County Board of Education’s Facebook page under the caption “Who says principals don’t deserve hazard pay?”, as before WSAZ NewsChannel 3 had reported.

After the morning incident, it was no longer possible to return to the usual routine: “The students at school wanted to see it, and I showed them all,” said the school director. “They just thought it was hilarious. A few little girls told me if you see a bear, don’t run away.”

Bears are not uncommon in West Virginia

The elementary school principal at Zela Elementary School in Summersville told the news channel about his experience: “You throw things in (in the dumpster) but you don’t expect something that big to come out of it.” The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources had James Marsh before provided the lock for the dumpster because there had been repeated problems with bears diving into dumpsters.

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Although bears are not uncommon in this region, the director got a real scare, too: “I’ve never been this close to one, and I doubt there have been a lot of people,” Marsh said. “He just jumped out like a jack-in-the-box. He would let out a pretty loud growl or roar and that was pretty much the scary thing about the whole event.”

Compliment: Headmaster still a fast runner for his age

The principal was told by people who saw the video that he was a fairly fast runner for his age. But the adrenaline rush also seemed to have been tremendous: “I think we were both equally surprised,” Marsh said. “When you’re that close, they don’t seem that friendly.”

There seem to be some students among the Facebook users commenting on the original video:

• “The bear like: Thanks for releasing me again… PEOPLE again!!! 😱😱”
• “Omg. I just had to look again😂😂”
• “Mr. Marsh can run lol”
• “Who runs the fastest, Mr. Marsh or the bear?”

Across from WSAZ NewsChannel 3 Marsh also said that the Division of Natural Resources made modifications to the garbage can on the day of the incident to prevent future encounters of this kind.

How did the bear get into the dumpster?

Because many were wondering how the bear got into the locked dumpster in the first place, the Nicholas County Board of Education also posted surveillance video of the black bear managing to climb into the dumpster:

Primary School Principal James Marsh was greeted by Deputy School Minister Dr. Sara Lewis-Stankus was honored on behalf of Superintendent David Roach: He was presented with a plush bear as a token of recognition for his courage and bravery – or for his speed and agility, according to the school’s Facebook channel.