It is too bad someone along the way decided to call it a garlic, when it is certainly not. Talk about false advertising! You need to compare the taste/pungency of one of the garlics I grow and compare that to the elephant "onion". Heirloom, gourmet garlic will knock your socks off!
You might be on to something about growing those elephant bulbs close to other flowers. I have never seen a pest and animals don't seem to touch my garlic while growing.