ELEPHANTS AND CHEESE: AN EXPLORATORY PAPER

by Teck Wann

It is widely known that elephants fear cheese, and will flee at the
first whiff of it (see for example ). What is not yet well Source F
understood is why this phenomenon occurs. For more than a decade
academics have been researching this perplexing topic. Their work
constitutes part of the booming new discipline known as pachydermo-
fromagology, which is defined as “the study of elephant-cheese Source D
interactions” ( ). This paper will evaluate existing research
and theories, and argue that none of them satisfactorily explain the data
which has been gathered so far.

That elephants fear cheese was an accidental discovery made by the

Source B
noted elephantologist G. Coleman ( ). The story of the
discovery is now famous, but worth repeating:
After a hard morning following the herd, I had just sat down under
a tree for lunch and unwrapped a particularly delectable chunk of
cheddar sent up from the base camp. Suddenly I heard an enormous
trampling sound, and when I looked up, the entire herd was gone. ( Source C,
page 160
)
His discovery, while dismissed at the time, was subsequently Sources
corroborated by other researchers. Several studies ( ) have G, H
confirmed the phenomenon, and that it occurs among both African and
Asian elephants. A recent report by the Elephant Research Institute
Source E
( ) established that smell is the primary means elephants
detect cheese, and that they will ignore large pieces of cheese if tightly
wrapped. Meanwhile a French cheese expert asserts on his website that
elephants do not flee from French cheese, only the lesser cheeses of other
nations. “Zee creatures, zey have good taste, non?” he writes Source I,
( ). Introduction,
para. 2

Recently, a new theory has exploded on the scene and caused quite
a stink. Based on several clever experiments, K. Maas Source J,
( ) has claimed that in fact elephants do not fear cheese at all, page 468
but instead fear the mice which are attracted to cheese. However, this
theory, which she calls the Maas Mouse Hypothesis (MMH), has not yet Sources
been widely accepted. One researcher ( ) has published a series K, L
of articles roundly denouncing the MMH, and the debate has even spilled
over into the popular press ( ). Source A

What are we to make of this controversy? A good starting point

Gordon Coleman, “In-text Citation in APA Style: Notes Sheet, Exercise, Answer Key”,
https://urls.bccampus.ca/35.
 References

Achison, C.L. (2004, April). A ripe and weighty issue: an interview with Monica A
Sturgess. Cheese Lovers World, 6 (4), 12-13.

Coleman, G.J. (1984). An odd behaviour observed among the species Elephas B
maximus. Journal of Trunked Mammal Studies, 23, 421-429.

Coleman, G.J. (1988). Underfoot: ten years among the elephants. New York: C
Oxford University Press.

Concise Oxford dictionary, 11th ed. (2004). Oxford University Press. Retrieved D
October 20, 2004, from Oxford Reference Online database.

Elephant Research Institute, Simon Fraser University. (2001) Smell versus sight: E
detection of cheese by elephants. Retrieved November 1, 2004, from
http://www.sfu.ca/eri/reports/00107elephants.pdf

Elephants stampede, 7 cheese-lovers trampled. (2003, November 22). Vancouver F

Sun, p. A1, A8.

Gibson, C.N. & Sturgess, M.N. (1987). Elephant fleeing behaviour confirmed.
G
Journal of Elephantology, 16, 239-245. Retrieved October 27, 2004, from
Academic Search Elite database.

Gibson, C.N. Sturgess, M.N., & Bates, A.T. (1989). Experiments with cheese
H
effects on Elephas maximus and Elephas africanus. Journal of
Elephantology, 18, 120-134. Retrieved October 27, 2004, from Academic
Search Elite database.

Gouda, A.N. (n.d.) Commentary of a report about cheese and les elephants. I
Retrieved October 23, 2004, from
http://www.mondedefromage.fr/elephants.html

Maas, K.A. (2003). The missing link: elephants, mice, and cheese. International
Journal of Rodentia Research, 56, 459-471. Retrieved October 31, 2004, J
from http://www.elsevierpublisher.com/ijrr/56/4/maas.htm

Sturgess, M.N. (2004a). Of mice and cheese (Part 1). Journal of Trunked Mammal K
Studies, 43, 10-15.

Sturgess, M.N. (2004b). Of mice and cheese (Part 2). Journal of Trunked MammalL
Studies, 43, 219-225.

TLN Advanced Essay Writing Workshop

Gordon Coleman, “In-text Citation in APA Style: Notes Sheet, Exercise, Answer Key”,
https://urls.bccampus.ca/35.
In-text citations in APA style
APA style requires that you cite in the body of your essay the source of a fact, idea, quote, or datum
you have borrowed. The way you do this is the parenthetical citation – which is a fancy way of
saying a citation in parentheses ( ). The elements of the parenthetical citation are easy:
( author , year of publication , page ) Here’s a sample:

It has been argued that milk chocolate tastes better (Smith, 2001, p. 163).

Each parenthetical citation must correspond to a full citation in your reference list at the end of your
essay. In this case, if we looked in the reference list we might see something like this:

Smith, J.T. (2001). A comparison of milk and dark chocolate. Journal of Chocolatology, 4,
134-167.

Easy? Okay, now here are some of the complications …

If you are referring to the whole document or (Smith, 2001)

article, a page number is not necessary.

For two authors, use an ampersand. (Smith & Jones, 2004)

If there are 3-5 authors …

 the first time cite them all (Smith, Jones, & Wilson, 1996, p. 345)
 after that, use “et al.” (Smith et al., 1996, p. 345)

The author can be a group or institution. (Simon Fraser University Library, 2004, p. 2)

If there is no author, you sometimes use the title Newspaper article: (“Study finds”, 2003)
of the item/article/webpage as author. If it is Book or report: (Annual Report, 2001)
very long, use the first few words.

More than one item by the same author in the (Smith, 2001a, p. 45)
same year? Distinguish them with a, b, c.

For long web documents with no page numbers, (Jones, 2002, Introduction section, para. 2)
give the section and then paragraph.

Two citations in one set of parentheses:

 different authors (Jones, 2002, p. 45; Smith, 1999, p. 67)
 same author (Jones, 1999, 2002)

Stylistically, it is common practice to use the author’s name in the text of the essay, in which case
you can omit it from the parenthetical citation. Either of the following two versions is fine:

It has been argued (Smith & Jones, 2004, p. Smith and Jones (2004, p. 678) argued that …
678) that …

Gordon Coleman, “In-text Citation in APA Style: Notes Sheet, Exercise, Answer Key”,
https://urls.bccampus.ca/35.
 by Teck Wann

It is widely known that elephants fear cheese, and will flee at the
first whiff of it (see for example “Elephants stampede”, 2003). What is Source F
not yet well understood is why this phenomenon occurs. For more than a
decade academics have been researching this perplexing topic. Their
work constitutes part of the booming new discipline known as
pachydermo-fromagology, which is defined as “the study of elephant- Source D
cheese interactions” (Concise Oxford dictionary, 2004). This paper will
evaluate existing research and theories, and argue that none of them
satisfactorily explain the data which has been gathered so far.

That elephants fear cheese was an accidental discovery made by the

Source B
noted elephantologist G. Coleman (1984). The story of the discovery is
now famous, but worth repeating:
After a hard morning following the herd, I had just sat down under
a tree for lunch and unwrapped a particularly delectable chunk of
cheddar sent up from the base camp. Suddenly I heard an enormous
trampling sound, and when I looked up, the entire herd was gone. Source C,
page 160
( Coleman, 1988, p. 160)
His discovery, while dismissed at the time, was subsequently Sources
corroborated by other researchers. Several studies (Gibson & Sturgess, G, H
1987; Gibson, Sturgess, & Bates, 1989) have confirmed the phenomenon,
and that it occurs among both African and Asian elephants. A recent
Source E
report by the Elephant Research Institute
( 2001) established that smell is the primary means elephants detect
cheese, and that they will ignore large pieces of cheese if tightly
wrapped. Meanwhile a French cheese expert asserts on his website that
elephants do not flee from French cheese, only the lesser cheeses of other Source I,
nations. “Zee creatures, zey have good taste, non?” he writes Introduction,
( Gouda, n.d., Introduction section, para. 2). para. 2

Recently, a new theory has exploded on the scene and caused quite
a stink. Based on several clever experiments, K. Maas Source J,
(2003) has claimed that in fact elephants do not fear cheese at all, but page 468
instead fear the mice which are attracted to cheese. However, this theory, Sources
which she calls the Maas Mouse Hypothesis (MMH), has not yet been K, L
widely accepted. One researcher (Sturgess, 2004a, 2004b) has published
a series of articles roundly denouncing the MMH, and the debate has
even spilled over into the popular press (Achison, 2004). Source A

What are we to make of this controversy? A good starting point

Gordon Coleman, “In-text Citation in APA Style: Notes Sheet, Exercise, Answer Key”,
https://urls.bccampus.ca/35.