Elephant hit in Enid SUV crash
By The Associated Press
Comments 
65
Published: November 5, 2009
Modified: November 10, 2009 at 2:31 pm
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 as it ran along North the U.S. 81 bypass in Enid, Okla. According to Enid Police Department Sgt. Billy Varney, the couple in the vehicle were not injured. The elephant suffered a broken tusk, a hurt leg and bumps, bruises and scratches, he said. (AP Photo/Enid News & Eagle, Billy Hefton)
It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant?
An Oklahoma 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 Asian 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.
A booking agent for the circus,
Rachael Bellman, said she was unaware 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.
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I'm American, and i'm sick of people saying America is the "stupidest country in the world"
Personally, I think Europe is the stupidest country in the world.
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This chicken shit aint gonna turn up at no hooters. They're all big men until the big guns are A'blazing.
No really, have fun. Get drunk or whatever you normally do.
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--stupid inbred hicks.
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STUPID LIBERALS>!!!!!!!
NOBAMA 2012
Geez, I feel sorry for my home state.
"The elephant blended in with the road..."
"At the very last second, I said 'elephant!'"
"So help me Hanna..."
"...I don't know whether to cry or laugh."
"I don't know what was in the wine..."
Ha, what a great guy.
Plus, the headline practically wins the "Wait..... what?" award of the decade for Oklahoma.
HAHAHA!!!
Yeah, and I'm sure the dispatcher contacted the officers with that story. More than likely, he put out the call as a possible DUI. He should have asked if the elephant was pink.
As for bad writing at the Daily-Okinawa, well that's the twitter/SMS style writing that the Gaylords insisted be taught at O.U. Junk journalism at its highest. At one time they tried to write for 7th grade level readers. Now I believe their ultimate goal is 5th grade.
It will get worse before it gets better. O.U. just got more money from Gaylordia. Heck, even the dean quit over the whole mess. He could only take so much of it then he bailed out. Now he basically teaches a couple writing classes.
I thought Elephants were overrunning the whole
state! Nah, just inaccurate reporting, or maybe OKC actually has annexed Enid to become the largest city again.......