OKLAHOMA CITY - You’d think it would be hard to miss.

But an Oklahoma man not only didn’t see the escaped circus elephant in the road until the last minute, he barely avoided slamming into it.

“Didn’t have time to hit the brakes. The elephant blended in with the road,” driver Bill Carpenter said.

Carpenter, 68, swerved his SUV at the last second and ended up sideswiping the Asian elephant on U.S. 81 in Enid. The 4,500-pound escapee from the Family Fun Circus at a nearby fairground had a broken tusk and a leg wound.