According to the Associated Press, Bill and Deena Carpenter ended up sideswiping a 29-year-old elephant that escaped from a circus.
"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," Bill Carpenter, who has a wheat farm, told the news organization. "We'd have been history."
One of the elephant's tusks ended up carving a gash into their SUV. The couple did not sustain any injuries, though the elephant was being treated for a broken tusk and a wound to one of its legs.
Though the couple's experience certainly is a rare one, the idea of hitting other animals, including deer, isn't nearly as far-fetched. As harvesting continues, many deer may flee from farm equipment, which leads them closer to roads and cars. Drivers are encouraged to be more careful when traveling next to fields being harvested by agricultural equipment.
