TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.  — Verne and Theresa Nesvacil awoke to a homeowner’s nightmare — an intruder silhouetted in their bedroom doorway.

But it wasn’t a burglar that broke into the Nesvacils’ Peninsula Township home early June 11, letting itself in by breaking a glass window and shattering the couple’s comfortable slumber. A prankster didn’t rampage through their living room, or grapple with Verne Nesvacil in the bedroom.

The interloper that declared war on the Nesvacil home and bounded out through another window wasn’t human at all. It was a deer. 

“When it was all over, we sort of said, ‘What the hell happened here?'” Verne Nesvacil said.

A deer-sized hole remains in a window pane near the Wakulat Drive home’s front door. That’s where a doe crashed through, sent shards of glass flying through the house, landed on a table and butted its head on a chandelier.

Verne Nesvacil speculates that the deer, perhaps spooked by a car or dog, saw a glimmer of early morning sunshine through the window and mistook it for an opening. 

“I’m sure (it) looked in here and saw a reflection of trees,” he said. 

It’s that sort of “happenstance” that could bring a deer from the openness of nature into the confines of a house, said Ashley Autenrieth, a deer program biologist with a Michigan Department of Natural Resources office in Gaylord. 

Autenrieth said it’s rare for deer to make their way into homes. She’s only heard of two other instances, and neither involved a deer jumping through a window to get inside.

“It isn’t very common this happening,” she said.

Early morning noise is much more common in the Nesvacils’ neighborhood. Verne Nesvacil initially thought the sounds that awoke him came from outside, where residents often see deer bound across lawns. Theresa Nesvacil thought the commotion heralded an early morning visit from family members.

“It never occurred to us that anything was going wrong until we saw him in the doorway,” Verne Nesvacil said.

The sight of a panicked deer running around their bedroom sent the Nesvacils upright in their bed. Their dog, Molly, also lay in the bedroom, but seemed content to let her owners deal with the prancing intruder that careened into a sliding glass door and ripped drapes.

“She went, ‘Arf, arf,'” Verne said. “That’s about it.”

Theresa Nesvacil said it surprised her to see her husband get out of bed. Verne picked up a chair lion-tamer style and tried to pin the deer against a wall, but a click from the doe’s hoof showed him who was really in charge.

“I was not any match at all,” he said.

The struggle ended when the doe repeatedly butted her head against a bedroom window. The wayward wildlife eventually shattered the glass enough jump through, leaving behind streaks of blood, tufts of fur, a wrecked home and the dumbfounded Nesvacils.

Autenrieth said a deer inside a home can be dangerous, and wildlife experts recommend calling 911.

The Nesvacils didn’t have time for that, though they did call family members and an insurance company. The Nesvacils’ home, broken windows and damage aside, is slowly returning to normal. Insurance likely will pay for repairs, but may not fully restore the couple’s sense of safety.

Theresa Nesvacil laughed a little when she said she’s now closing her bedroom door.

“I’m keeping out the black bear that’s behind that doe,” she said.