Other Animal (But Non-Buggy) Crackers

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Elephant Sits On VW: Film At 11

In Dispute: Baby elephant escapes from circus; sits on a Volkswagen Beetle, denting it badly. The police later stop the car's owner and want to know what caused the dents; not believing the explanation, they assume the car was in an unreported accident and hilarity ensues.

This story is partially debunked by Brunvand in _The Choking Doberman_. The New York _Times_ of May 5, 1975 carried a story on the story, written by one Tom Buckley, who contacted the particular circus about which the story was then being told. The circus's spokesman is quoted as saying "It's a story that has been circulating for at least fifteen years. It never happened."

This doesn't establish that nothing of the kind ever happened; indeed, elephants do occasionally escape from zoos and circuses and cause property damage (per Conant, _A Field Guide to the Life and Times of Roger Conant_, the Toledo Zoo in the 1920s had an elephant named Babe that frequently escaped and terrorized the town).