Alligator Caddy
"Alligator Caddy" is a short story by Karl Jones.
Alligator Caddy
Those ridge features ("scutes") may be "integumentary sense organs" Wikipedia—
The skin of crocodilians is thick and cornified, and is clad in non-overlapping scales known as scutes, arranged in regular rows and patterns.
Some scutes contain a single pore known as an integumentary sense organ. Crocodiles and gharials have these on large parts of their bodies, while alligators and caimans only have them on the head. Their exact function is not fully understood, but it has been suggested that they may be mechanosensory organs. Another possibility is that they may produce an oily secretion that prevents mud from adhering to the skin. There are prominent paired integumentary glands in skin folds on the throat, and others in the side walls of the cloaca. Various functions for these have been suggested. They may play a part in communication, as indirect evidence suggest that they secrete pheromones used in courtship or nesting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodilia
—You see where I'm going with this, right?
Who pays more Top $$ for trivial differences than golfers? (Is that driver eight-nine percent Titanium?— or a full ninety percent?)
And what is more prestigious, in our biologically reductionist age, than a genetically engineered pet? Thus—
Alligator Caddy.
I see two futures for humanity (or for golfers, anyway)—
In one future, highly intelligent predatory reptiles hunt golfers to extinction.
In the other future, golfers use domesticated alligators as obedient mobile golf tees.
It's up to you, golfers. Especially you wealthy genetic engineer golfers—it's up to you.
Fiction cross reference
Nonfiction cross reference
External links
- For sale: baby shoes, never worn @ Wikipedia
- Crocodilia @ Wikipedia