A startled chef clad only in his underpants wrestled a kangaroo out of his house after it jumped through a window and onto his bed, Australian media reported.
'My initial thought when I was half awake was: it's a lunatic ninja coming through the window,' Beat Ettlin told the national AAP news agency.
'It seems about as likely as a kangaroo breaking in.'
The close encounter with the hopping marsupial began when Ettlin, a Swiss immigrant, and his family were woken early yesterday by their pet dog barking in the garden of their home in a suburb of the capital Canberra.
The kangaroo crashed through a 3m (9.8ft) high window into the master bedroom and onto the bed holding Ettlin, his partner Verity Beman, and their nine-year-old daughter Beatrix.
The family ducked under the blankets as the animal jumped on top before it headed out the door.
Ettlin said he heard his 10-year-old son Leighton screaming 'There's a roo in my room,' ran in and wrestled the 2m (6.5ft) tall kangaroo into a headlock, then dragged it down the hall and out the front door, AAP reported.
The chef, originally from the Swiss city of Stans, was left with shredded underpants and scratch marks on his leg and buttocks while the animal vanished into a nearby reserve.
He described himself as 'lucky' but his partner described him as 'a hero,' saying she did not know many men who would take on a kangaroo.
The family reported the intrusion to police and wildlife authorities.
