A viral video clip of a school principal being scared off by a dumpster-diving bear had Tampa TV news anchors hysterically laughing.
WFLA anchors Josh Benson and Stacie Schaible watched the popular video during their May 2 News Channel 8 at 4pm segment.
In the footage caught on a security camera, Principal James Marsh of Zela Elementary in West Virginia is seen unlocking the school’s dumpster when a massive black bear’s head pops out.
The bear seemingly looked Marsh right in the eyes, sending the principal bolting in one direction while the bear jumps out of the dumpster runs — thankfully — in the opposite direction.
While the Florida news station aired the video, Benson and Schaible are heard cracking up upon seeing the bear’s head emerge from the dumpster.
Moments later, the anchors’ giggles ensued to full-belly laughs. Soon enough, they were both wiping away tears.
“We’re just going to have commercial I think,” Schaible joked as the anchors’ laughing fit ensued.
“We got it, we got it,” Benson said as he collected himself. “The bear was frightened, he sprinted off in the other direction and the school district board sent out a Facebook post saying: ‘Who said principals don’t deserve hazard pay?’”
The school board’s joking post sent the anchors into another fit of laughter as they both doubled over cackling and the show went to commercial.
Schaible later took to Twitter and joked how “running for fun is a foreign concept to @WFLAJosh and me.”
“This spiraled us,” she added alongside a bunch of crying-laughing emojis.
“That one DESTROYED us,” Benson tweeted.
The CCTV clip of Marsh and the bear quickly circulated among staff and students after it was taken on May 1. And once the video found its way onto social media, it garnered thousands of views in a matter of hours.
“The students at the school, they wanted to see it, and I showed it to all of them. They thought it was just hilarious. I had a couple little girls tell me when you see a bear, you’re not supposed to run,” Marsh told WSAZ3 after the video was released.
The district sent out workers to modify the locks on the dumpster in hopes of avoiding any other bear scares in the future.
“We want that guy to go find his meals someplace else,” Marsh said.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
