Couple sideswipes runaway elephant

[Paul_Heery]

Couple sideswipes runaway elephant - The Boston Globe

Couple sideswipes runaway elephant

By Associated Press | November 6, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma couple driving home from church nearly slammed into an elephant that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday.

“Didn’t have time to hit the brakes,’’ driver Bill Carpenter said. “The elephant blended in with the road. At the very last second I said, ‘Elephant!’ ’’

Carpenter, 68, said he swerved and only sideswiped the Asian elephant on US 81 in Enid.

“So help me, Hanna, had I hit that elephant, not swerved, it would have knocked it off its legs, and it would have landed right on top of us,’’ he said. “We’d have been history.’’

The couple were not injured. But the 8-foot, 4,500-pound female elephant was being examined for a broken tusk and a leg wound. A local veterinarian said it appeared to have escaped major injury.

An 8-foot, 4,500-pound elephant that he didn't see until the last second? I think Bill might need to have his eyes checked.





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[porsche4life]

Holy jeebus..... Thats scary.... Why was there a runaway elephant in Enid????

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

Couple sideswipes runaway elephant - The Boston Globe

An 8-foot, 4,500-pound elephant that he didn't see until the last second? I think Bill might need to have his eyes checked.

Yeah, the old fella doesn't need to be driving. "The elephant blended in with the road." Right.

You never know, maybe Hana was giving old Bill a little road-head (she can probably take out her teeth for that ). It's hard to concentrate on driving when your eyes are rolled back in your head.

[stomachmonkey]

Seems like one of those things that you'd never expect to see in a million years so it probably did not register.

I nearly had a head on at 70 mph on the LIE many years ago.

Was cruising along in the left lane in "the valley" section coming around a big sweeping bend with a setting sun in my eyes.

Something in the distance looked really odd but I just could not make it out. At the last second it dawned on me that there were too many "lanes" of headlights coming at me. I swerved into the next lane and my wife screamed "WT", she never got to "F" since she had turned to me and saw the car pass us.

[asphaltgambler]

He was in the room earlier and even I didn't see him!!

[Dueller]

Can you imagine the insurance adjuster's report?

[porsche4life]

Can you imagine the Police report....

[Paul_Heery]

More info and a pic:

Animal on the lam: Elephant escaped from circus nearly hit by SUV highway

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Friday, November 6th 2009, 9:40 AM
An elephant that escaped from the Family Fun Circus at the Garfield County Fairgrounds after being spooked caused a vehicle accident Wednesday night, Nov. 4, 2009.

OKLAHOMA CITY - It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant?

A couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday.

"Didn't have time to hit the brakes. The elephant blended in with the road," driver Bill Carpenter said Thursday.

"At the very last second I said 'elephant!'"

Carpenter, 68, said he swerved his SUV at the last second and ended up sideswiping the 29-year-old female elephant on U.S. 81 in Enid, about 80 miles north of Oklahoma City.

"So help me Hanna, had I hit that elephant, not swerved, it would have knocked it off its legs, and it would have landed right on top of us," he said. "We'd have been history."

The couple, who own a wheat farm, weren't injured. But the 8-foot, 4,500-pound elephant was being examined Thursday for a broken tusk and a leg wound. A local veterinarian said it appeared to have escaped major injury.

"I thought this can't be happening. Out here you could hit a deer or a cow, but this can't be happening. The good Lord was with us," Carpenter said.

The elephant's tusk punched through the side of the SUV, tearing up sheet metal. After sideswiping the elephant, his wife, Deena, flagged some people down and used their cell phone to call police.

"The dispatcher didn't believe her: 'You hit a what?'" he said. "I told my wife, I don't know whether to cry or laugh."

Enid veterinarian Dr. Dwight Olson said the elephant was hiding in some bushes just off the highway when he arrived shortly after the accident. Handlers from the circus were able to calm it down, and Olson cleaned the leg wound and gave it some pain killer.

The elephant was taken Thursday to the veterinary school at Oklahoma State University for a follow-up exam.

"I don't believe there's a broken bone, but I don't have an X-ray room big enough to examine it," Olson said.

The elephant had escaped from the Family Fun Circus at the Garfield County Fairgrounds earlier Wednesday after something spooked it while it was being loaded into a truck with another elephant, Olson said.

David Sacks, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said late Thursday the elephant is owned by the same license holder of two elephants that escaped after getting spooked by a tornado in WaKeeney, Kan., last year.

The license holder is Doug Terranova, Sacks said. A booking agent for the circus, Rachael Bellman, said she was unaware of the incident, and a telephone message left with circus officials wasn't immediately returned.

Carpenter joked about being involved in such a bizarre accident on what is usually a peaceful church night. "I don't know what was in the wine, but it must have been pretty strong," he said.

[mossguy]

What kind of pain killer, and how much, (and how?) would you give to an elephant?

Tom

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally Posted by mossguy

What kind of pain killer, and how much, (and how?) would you give to an elephant?

Tom

I'm willing to find out...