(NEWSnet/AP) — The sound of a vehicle backfiring scared a circus elephant, causing it to break through a fence and take a brief walk, stopping noontime traffic before being loaded into a trailer.

Viola, an Asian elephant with Jordan World Circus, still participated in two performances Tuesday after her time on the lam in the Montana city of about 35,000.

Viola was getting a bath near Butte Civic Center Tuesday when the incident occurred, said Bill Melvin, manager of the center.

She wandered onto Harrison Avenue, stopping traffic. People stopped to take photos and video. Viola walked about a half-block on the street then into the parking lot of a convenience store, Melvin said. She then moved to a residential lawn, where she started eating grass.

People with the circus drove a trailer, containing another elephant, to the site. Melvin said they put the ramp down, "and she walked right back in, and that was it. The other elephant was very happy to see her.”

“She came back and she performed ... and everything was good,” Melvin said. “The show went on, as they say.”

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