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Vacationing Louisville couple forced home after raccoon badly damages house

A raccoon living in one family's attic flooded their home twice, forcing them to return from their long-awaited vacation.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One Louisville family was forced to return from their vacation early after an unexpected visitor wrecked havoc in their home two nights in a row.

After a difficult year, Michael and India Gant said they were excited to take a much-needed vacation to the beach. They were enjoying the waves and sand when they got an unusual text from a neighbor letting them know their home was "leaking."

"I guess, initially, we thought we were vandalized," Michael Gant said. "Someone broke in, stuffed a whole bunch of stuff down our sink and flooded our house."

The two called some family members to help clean up and tried to return to their vacation

"We had people come out and set up fans and clean it up and thought, 'OK, we're good, we'll finish vacation and figure it out when we get back,'" Gant said. "But uh...we weren't."

The next day, the Gants learned their house had once again flooded. Looking for a repeat offender, their family was shocked when they discovered the culprit: a raccoon sleeping in one of their beds.

"He found our guest bedroom, which is the comfiest bed in our house, with all our nice new pillows, just snoozing away right there, having a day," Gant said.

A raccoon living in the Gants' attic had created a hole through the top of their kitchen sink. The couple could not ignore the drama back in Louisville, returning early from vacation and coordinating clean-up.

Unfortunately, they were unable to meet their interior designer. Animal Control assisted in the raccoon's removal, describing the animal as "docile."

"Wish we would have got to see him," the couple said, "but oh well, I guess."

The two said that while they were unable to meet their visitor, they would have loved to relay a message.

"I would have said, 'Hang out in the bed, knock stuff off the shelves, just keep it at that," the Gants said. "Leave the water alone."

Now, the two have one tip for other families heading out on vacation: "Turn your water off when you go on vacation!"

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