..well, more than one.

`You hit a what?' SUV nearly slams into elephant

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.

Enid, the home of Champlins, at least it could have been dispatched quite easily.

Imagine looking out the window and instead of deer you see an elephant in your backyard....what would you do ?

quote:

Originally posted by collector:
Imagine looking out the window and instead of deer you see an elephant in your backyard....what would you do ?

Why, have another beer.

quote:

Originally posted by OldHandgunHunter:

quote:

Originally posted by collector:
Imagine looking out the window and instead of deer you see an elephant in your backyard....what would you do ?

Why, have another beer.

Top answer already listed above, but #2 is: hastily get out brush and can of pink paint, and have at it.

#3. Take pet gerbils from their cages and go give that ele a proper scare for trampling your petunias.

quote:

Originally posted by collector:
Imagine looking out the window and instead of deer you see an elephant in your backyard....what would you do ?

Have a county wide BBQ?

Keith

Elephant in your backyard . Reminds me of the James Thurber story about the unicorn eating the roses in the backyard. Anyone remember that ?

"The Unicorn in the Garden " 1968
http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/unicorn1.html

the title of the post reminded me about when I bought a 450-400 WR double at the Dallas Gun Show,circa late '70. Anyway, I tried to sneak the rifle into my study and stash it among my other rifles:well, the wife discovered it, asked me what it was; so, I replied it was for elephant. She was so furious that before she really thought about what she was saying shouted that there were no elephants in Southlake, Tx which gave me the perfect opportunity to say it was already damned effective. Anyway, a few years later she sold it when she divorced me.

I am going to report some posters to PETA about the barbecue suggestion - after I stop laughing, of course. As to the idea suggested by one poster of "another beer" upon seeing an elephant in one's back yard - It seems to me that only a double shot of Canadian Club could erase that image. I visited OK several times, beautiful country and nice people. Stop telling wild stories like this!

quote:

Originally posted by Mike70560:
Enid, the home of Champlins, at least it could have been dispatched quite easily.

Why shoot it if it could be saved?

Best-
Locksley,R

Never said it should be shot, just thought it to be a little humorous that it was near one of the largest dangerous game rifle collections in the country especially considering the name of the discussion.

Lighten up, maybe you can attend the barbeque Hog Killer will have after I shoot it.

I wish it would escape in Stillwater, I might try something epic and break out my old longbow!

I wonder if it would it be legal to kill an escaped elephant on your own property?


If I woke up to a tusker in the backyard, i would be tempted to grab the Rigby, go for a brain shot, and if charged, run back in the house.

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:
I wonder if it would it be legal to kill an escaped elephant on your own property?


If I woke up to a tusker in the backyard, i would be tempted to grab the Rigby, go for a brain shot, and if charged, run back in the house.

If you had a license, the elephant season was open, and it was a rural area probably yes. Here in the Peoples' Republic I'm sure they would fine you for hunting out of out of season, shooting a non-game animal, and discharging a firearm within in a municipality - plus anything else they could dig up or make up.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike70560:
Never said it should be shot, just thought it to be a little humorous that it was near one of the largest dangerous game rifle collections in the country especially considering the name of the discussion.

Lighten up, maybe you can attend the barbeque Hog Killer will have after I shoot it.

Sorry,I missed the humour in it.Easy to do that on the net.

Best-
Locksley,R

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:
I wonder if it would it be legal to kill an escaped elephant on your own property?

You could always follow the "Three S" plan.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:
I wonder if it would it be legal to kill an escaped elephant on your own property?

You could always follow the "Three S" plan.

I think that would have to be modified to SBS
Shoot.
Backhoe.
Shutup.

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:


I think that would have to be modified to SBS
Shoot.
Backhoe.
Shutup.

Diesel-powered equipment would definitely be required.

quote:

Anyway, a few years later she sold it when she divorced me.

Bit of a sad story right there boss - hope you're making up for it by terrorising those fish there off St. T...

My wife's stock speech when I want to invest in a gun is "how many guns can you shoot at once" -of course she is also famous for "all you PH's do is drive around the bush having fun" ...

Our 20th Wedding anniversary is looming! Not all bad I guess. But to lose that double...