Stand_Watie... that is not cool.
0330, the cat wakes me up with something to the effect of "Dad, open this door RIGHT NOW, or go find the carpet cleaner."
0331, roused from my slumber, I decide to see who's on APS.
0333, I find this thread. Then I see your picture. In my o dark thirty bleariness, I think you're holding some sort of stick, think you must've typed "chicken stake," and wonder why I've never seen one in the hardware store.
0338, I finally decide that I just have to give these magical "chicken stakes" another look. Upon reviewing the photo, this time with the goo cleaned off the lens of my eye, I discover that you are in fact refering to some sort of lizard. Then I look at the photo again and exclaim in a voice loud enough to be heard by the neighbors (by which I mean our neighbor to the north, Canada. No, I don't know why I said it that loud, it's early, ok?), "Holy crap! That's the biggest snake I've ever seen!" It isn't, but it's early, and it seemed like the thing to say.
You ever notice that mothers can hear their child cough slightly two states away? Well, mom knows I have a special hatred for snakes. Mom also knows why.
0339, I've moved on to better things, namely tomorrow's (today's?) weather forecast. Mom comes stumbling into the room, stepdad in tow, both in bathrobes, and mom has my maglite in hand ready to beat down any slithering creatures that might be present.
*sigh*
I guess it's good to be protected.
P.S.: CHNG, you want to borrow a cat? I'm considering all this to be his fault, so I'm mad at him right now. He loves the outdoors, and fancies himself a great hunter. A junebug got the best of him once, but I'm sure he at least looks intimidating to *something*.