"An inferior elephant is still way cooler than almost every other animal"

I set up an e-mail mailer list today that includes all the new hires I know. I am trying to reach out and connect with other new hires that aren't in Information Technology (my organization.) I'm a bit miffed that we have no idea who exists out there outside our realm. In the e-mail I said:

New hires are as precious as elephant teeth around these parts, and us jewels should band together so that we have more bargaining power.

Almost immediately I was called out by Mike (6-pack,) who said that the tusks of elephants are not actually considered teeth, and that the "cheek" teeth themselves had almost no value. I was horrified that I had helped to propagate a misconception, and I began to draft an appology e-mail. I was about to send it when I came upon this site. It helped me show Mike the error of his ways, and made me feel a bit better about my statement that elephant teeth have some worldly value. Mike admitted to me that he was a bit of an elephant "connousier" and that they had been his favorite animals since 2nd grade. I felt this was an important turning point in our relationship; Mike admitted that he was wrong (which he rarely is) and he also found out that I repect his choice of an elephant as his favored animal. You need only read the title of this post to see how much Mike thinks of elephants, especially African ones.

We all know the meerkat is the favorite child of Mother Nature, however.