Avoid using jQuery's clone() method

Avoiding the use of jQuery's clone() and empty() methods helps to decrease the
amount of memory used by the project. The less garbage present on the the
heap, the fewer garbage collection pauses the application will enounter, which
will help make scrolling smoother and the application more responsive.

jquery.stalker.js

@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
 
 		// We use jElement.height() instead of outerHeight() since original
 		// padding is still applied to placeholder element
-		this.placeholder = this.jElement.clone(false).empty().css('height', this.jElement.height());
+		this.placeholder = this.styleClone(this.jElement).css('height', this.jElement.height());
 
 		this.stalking = false;
 
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@
 						//  element's original styles intact for when we're done stalking
 						//  We want to do this as late as possible.
 						// We won't need the descendents, so don't bother with them
-						me._jElementClone = me.jElement.clone(true, false);
+						me._jElementClone = me.styleClone(me.jElement);
 
 						setPosition('top');
 
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@
 						//  element's original styles intact for when we're done stalking
 						//  We want to do this as late as possible.
 						// We won't need the descendents, so don't bother with them
-						me._jElementClone = me.jElement.clone(true, false);
+						me._jElementClone = me.styleClone(me.jElement);
 
 						setPosition('bottom');
 
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@
 				}
 
 				me._baseOffset = me.placeholder.offset();
-				me.jElement.width(me._baseWidth).css('left', me._baseOffset.left+'px');
+				me.jElement.width(me._baseWidth).css('left', me._baseOffset.left + 'px');
 			}
 			else
 			{
@@ -266,6 +266,32 @@
 		stalk();
 	};
 
+	Stalker.prototype.styleClone = function($node)
+	{
+		// Extract the node from the jQuery object for cloning.
+		var node = 'nodeName' in $node ? $node : $node[0];
+		var clone = document.createElement(node.nodeName);
+
+		var i, length, attr;
+		for (i = 0, length = node.attributes.length; i < length; i++)
+		{
+			attr = node.attributes[i];
+			clone.setAttribute(attr.name || attr.nodeName, attr.value || attr.nodeValue);
+		}
+
+		// Clean and re-merge attributes.
+		if (clone.clearAttributes)
+		{
+			clone.clearAttributes();
+		}
+		if (clone.mergeAttributes)
+		{
+			clone.mergeAttributes(node);
+		}
+
+		return $(clone);
+	};
+
 	// A really lightweight plugin wrapper around the constructor,
 	// preventing against multiple instantiations
 	$.fn[pluginName] = function ( options )