Heeere Leezard, Leezard, Leezard...

When we adopted Hailie, the adoption agency made us sign a contract agreeing to certain stipulations such as:

1. We can never de-claw her.
2. She must be an indoor cat.
3. If we ever decide to kick her out, we must return her to the adoption agency where we got her and pay a nominal cat support fee until she turns 18 (or if she goes to college, 23)
4. We must never let her know that she is, in fact, a cat.

Husband and I signed the contract, although we wondered how exactly the adoption agency planned to enforce these stipulations. Will CPS (Cat Protection Services) make periodic visits to our home to inspect her paws and conduct secret interviews with her regarding her treatment? We still aren't sure.

Whatever the case is, it is very apparent that the adoption agency didn't bother to tell Hailie that she must remain inside her new domicile 24-7. Hailie definitely has her own ideas. Over the past few weeks, Husband and I have attempted to master the art of opening our sticky front door, with a childproofing latch, sneak through it and slam it shut before our little Hailie can dash between our legs and on to sweet freedom. The first few times it happened, I completely freaked out. I was afraid that she was not happy with us and was determined to hit the road and find a family who could appreciate her for who she is, a cat.

Fortunately, Hailie does seem to have bonded with us. Usually within a half hour or so, she proudly struts back through the front door, having satiated her need to make sure we don't take her for granted. Unfortunately, we don't have a cat door. Therefore, we must leave the front door open while Hailie is on her sojourns. Lots of other critters, mostly bugs, who would like a taste of domestic life, strut in as well.

Very late last night, Hailie managed to sneak out again. I left the door open for her. In gratitude for our hospitality, when Hailie returned, she brought me a present.



Yes, she brought into the house a small lizard. We have spotted these beautiful creatures before in our front yard. They are a gorgeous shade of bright green, and occasionally they inflate their bright red waddle.



Hailie walked back into the house with one of these lizards in her mouth. She dropped it at my feet. The lizard, seeing an opportunity to escape, took off running around my living room. Hailie took off in hot pursuit. I yelled for Husband and grabbed the camera. Obviously, this was a blog worthy event.



The lizard continued scurrying willy nilly around my living room and kitchen looking for a way out. Hailie would occasionally pounce on the poor creature and then look up at me for approval.



I began scurrying willy nilly around my living room and kitchen, both snapping photos and yelling for Husband to grab the damn lizard. Husband managed to get a hold of the lizard. He inspected it for damage and determined that it should be okay once it was firmly outside of feline range. I scooped up Hailie (no more escapes for that night, thank you) while Husband opened our front door and deposited the poor reptile somewhere far away from our house.

Update: Brilliant commenter, the_hittman, pointed out that our little lizard friend is actually a chameleon. I agreed with his assessment, and so I found out a little more information about them.

The chameleon in question is called a Green Anole and they are natives to the southeastern U.S., including South Carolina. You can read more about them here and here.