Principal runs like deer when giant black bear emerges from dumpster

When a West Virginia elementary school principal peeped into a school dumpster and came nose-to-nose with a big black bear, he would have made Usain Bolt proud getting the heck out of there, as captured on a surveillance video.

>> Read more trending news

The startled bear beat a hasty retreat himself as he jumped out of the dumpster, hit the ground running and took off in the opposite direction. He quickly zig-zagged into a nearby wooded area and disappeared, according to WDTV.

A surveillance camera captured the unexpected meeting between Zela Elementary School Principal James Marsh and the uninvited ursine as Marsh opened the lid to the school dumpster at about 7:15 a.m. Nobody has offered an explanation for how the bear got into the dumpster despite the bar that held the lid closed, which is designed “to deter bears,” the principal told Storyful, KSAT reported.

The video showed Marsh as he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath and managed to share a laugh with a coworker who saw the whole thing from a doorway.