Kangaroo Comes Crashing into Bedroom

Here’s a story from our Strange News Archives. When Beat Ettlin awoke to the sound of shattering glass and a dark figure leaping onto his bed, he initially thought he was dreaming of a “lunatic ninja” breaking in. To his surprise, it was a kangaroo that had crashed through the window of his home in Garran, an upscale suburb of Canberra, Australia. “It seems about as likely as a kangaroo breaking in,” the 42-year-old chef recalled. However, the relief was fleeting. As Ettlin lay under the sheets with his wife and 9-year-old daughter at 2 a.m. on Sunday, the kangaroo bounded into his 10-year-old son Leighton Beman’s bedroom, prompting the boy to scream, “There’s a ‘roo in my room!” This alarming turn of events made Ettlin realize the potential danger for his family. The chaotic scene unfolded quickly. Ettlin, originally from Stans, Switzerland, sprang into action. Weighing around 90 pounds (40 kilograms), the kangaroo posed a challenge as it thrashed about. Ettlin managed to tackle the marsupial from behind, pinning it down and applying a headlock. He then wrestled it toward the hallway and out the front door. “I felt vulnerable,” he admitted, noting that he was only wearing his Bonds underwear—a popular Australian brand—during this unexpected encounter. The kangaroo, roughly his height at 5 feet 9 inches (176 centimeters), left its mark on the home, scratching the wooden frame of the master bed and leaving a trail of blood after injuring itself while breaking in. Ettlin’s unusual night concluded with him successfully shoving the kangaroo outside into the night, but not without a few scratches and bruises from the ordeal.