Wild animals are so adorable—as long as they’re in the wild, outside. But sometimes these critters get inspired to crash our own digs, mess up our homes, claw our furniture, terrify our children—and maybe even provide us with a great photo, video, or story to share with our friends!
What possesses these mangy, nondomestic beasts to barge in unannounced? Maybe it’s in their DNA to explore, or perhaps they caught a whiff of that pot roast and were hoping for a handout.
Whatever their reasons, these 10 brave creatures below have staged some of the most brilliant home break-ins ever—and, in the process, have also found their way onto YouTube and Reddit, and (deeply) into our hearts.
Seal out of water
In 2011, a New Zealand woman got the shock of her life (or at least her weekend) when she found a baby seal hanging out with her cats in the kitchen. According to the New Zealand Herald, the furry pup had apparently ambled out of the ocean, through the suburbs, and then up her driveway and through a cat door to find some new friends before making its way to the couch for a nap. It’s no wonder—that seal must have been pooped!
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Hey, accidents happen
Speaking of pooped, the British newspaper Metro reported on a woman in Guernsey (a commonwealth of the British crown renowned for its dairy cows) who came downstairs to a huge surprise after she forgot to fully close her front door. Apparently, a couple of cattle had felt a call of nature and wanted to use the loo. Sadly, they didn’t quite make it.
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Bad kitty
Most cats love to bat at window blinds—even big cats. While the stories behind these “cougar break-in” pics posted on Reddit are rather vague, what is clear is that this kitty played a little too rough, turning one homeowner’s wooden blinds into tinder.
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Fowl play
When a Rhode Island woman spotted water seeping through her ceiling, she told The Daily Mail that she assumed a pipe had burst upstairs—but upon checking discovered a thirsty turkey that had flown through the bathroom window, turned on the faucet, and left it running! Guess birds these days don’t get schooled in water conservation.
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‘My head fits, but…’
In August, a black bear cub tried to wriggle through a dog door in Sandpoint, ID. Thankfully, as reported by Fox News (in the U.K.), the cub only managed to fit its face through the gap before giving up—but not before the homeowner snapped a few keepsake pics.
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Bambi in the burbs
But not all animals are too large to get through a pet door. In this video, a Houdini-like baby deer takes a cue from its feline brethren and follows a cat right through the cat flap. Then it makes its way toward the camera to say hello.
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If these walls could talk…
Raccoons are sometimes like terrible magicians—able to disappear into the strangest of places, but unable to reappear again without some serious help. In this video, a YouTube user chronicles his efforts in excavating a baby raccoon from the wall without drilling a hole through it. It was tough, but he prevailed.
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Badger burglar
If there’s one thing you can take away from this list, it’s that having a pet door is an open invitation to wandering wild life. In this instance, a badger popped in, opened a small freezer, and scarfed down a frozen pastry before it was caught on video by the homeowner and gained fame on social media.
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Let them eat chicken
But even without a cat door, you might have to bear with some hairy prowlers. In this YouTube video, a bear busted through a window, snagged a bag of frozen chicken, and hopped back over the railing. Those reflexes are positively catlike. We are impressed!
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Happy Bear-thday!
And finally, our very own colleague Rachel Stults had this encounter while spending her birthday weekend in Lake Tahoe, CA:
Initially it was hard to tell if my friends were making some kind of joke or if I was still, um, “celebrating” from the night before. But I stumbled out of bed to discover that a bear—a huge black bear—had broken into our cabin, made its way up the stairs to the kitchen, opened the door to our freezer, and STOLE MY ICE CREAM BIRTHDAY CAKE. (Side note: He apparently started with the refrigerator, where he pilfered our lunch meats and cheeses—but did not touch my pan of homemade chicken tetrazzini—which I found rather offensive!)
Despite the bold rudeness of its B&E, the bear minded its “manners” and dragged the cake out of the house and devoured it on the deck.
The bear eventually made its way back to the forest, leaving behind a trail of icing on the carpet, a broken door frame, and claw marks on the stainless-steel refrigerator.
I called the rental company, which apologized profusely, called the bear break-in an “act of God,” and assured me I would get back my security deposit. Apparently, this wasn’t the first crime on the bear’s rap sheet—the next-door neighbors had reported that a bear broke down their garage door and then exited their house through a window.
Best. birthday. ever.
