This is quite possibly the most hilarious home invasion story ever—largely because the invader in question was a baby seal.

According to the New Zealand Herald, last Sunday night, New Zealand resident Annette Swoffer was upstairs in her Bay of Plenty home when she heard a racket issue from downstairs. Thinking her cats had brought a rabbit in or something, she wandered down to the kitchen—and found a seal pup in it.

That’s right: Somehow, the seal had made its way from the Welcome Bay waterfront, through a residential area, across Welcome Bay Rd. (which the Herald notes is quite busy), up another road, along Swoffer’s driveway, under a gate, through a cat flap, and up a set of stairs. Talk about one adventurous seal.

Understandably, Swoffer thought she might have been hallucinating—after all, how often do you expect to find a seal in your kitchen?—so she called a nearby friend to come and make sure that she was actually seeing what she thought she was seeing. And yes, the friend confirmed that they were looking at “flippers and not paws.” Then the baby seal wiggled over to the couch and made itself comfortable.

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But it gets better. Swoffer called the SPCA (New Zealand’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), who in turn contacted the Deaprtment of Conservation. Luckily, the DOC had already had a heads-up about the roaming seal, as someone had reported seeing it making its way along Welcome Bay Rd. Subsequently, Chris Clark, a biodiversity program manager for the DOC, was dispatched to remove the pup and release him back into the water.

Interestingly, this particular seal seems to have been very friendly, which is unusual for wild seals; Clark caught it without any trouble and put it in a net and box for transportation. Wuile the seal was in the vehicle, however, it escaped, made its way up to the front, and ended up in the front seat, accidentally turning the radio on in the process.

Best. Seal. Ever.

Attention: As hilarious as this story is, it should be noted that Annette Swoffer and her friend did exactly the right thing by NOT messing with the seal and calling the SPCA. Should you find a strange animal wandering around your home, you should leave it alone and immediately contact the appropriate authorities—no matter how cute it is.

You do have to admit that it WAS absolutely adorable, though.

Lucia Peters is BettyConfidential’s associate editor.

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