A couple in Saanich were the targets of a hairy home invasion when a wild mink slipped through their bedroom window early Monday morning.

Allison Hornick was woken up at around 1 a.m. when a shadowy figure jumped into her and her husband Dwight's room.

"All of a sudden she heard a noise. I slept right through it," Dwight told CTV News. "I only woke up and all of a sudden, she screamed and she jumped up and landed on me."

Thinking the intruder was a large rat, the couple slept in a separate room for the night. When they came back to see if it had taken off, they found their bedroom in a state of disarray.

"The bedroom was a mess. It tried to chew the rubber underneath the door, the insulation. It chewed it all up and things were knocked over," said Dwight.

That's not the only unfortunate gift left by the furry visitor.

"A little bit of feces in there too which isn't too pleasant," said Allison.

That's when the pair locked eyes with the invader and realized it wasn't a rat, but something much more adorable.

"It's black and it's really quite cute, but we didn't know what it was," said Dwight.

"We have a pond in the back so I thought it might be a freshwater otter or a mink," said Alison. "It's giving a weird odor off though. When we first went in the bedroom we were like, 'whoa.'"

The animal had holed up behind a drawer beneath the Hornicks' bed, so they called animal control to come deal with it.

Saanich Pound officer Mike Gibson arrived on the scene and quickly informed the couple that the animal was in fact a mink, and while the animals are cute, they can also be vicious.

He devised a plan to trap the mink by building a barrier, then dismantling the bed.

"I want to give him one point of egress, and I want it to be outdoors," Gibson said.

And as quickly as it jumped through the window, the mink made a dash for the door – and was back outside where it belonged.

"It's a really, really deeply satisfying feeling when you can save them and send them on their way safely," said Gibson.

While tired from their all-night encounter, Allison and Dwight said they were also glad the slippery little break-in artist made it out safely.

"It was a great little morning," said Alison, laughing.