An Alaskan man thought his house was being broken into when he heard strange noises at his door. Then he came face to face with seven cute lynx kittens and their mom playing on his front porch.

Tim Newton, a photographer, lives on a property that borders a large nature area, so he's no stranger to seeing wildlife crossing his backyard.

But on this particular morning, a fluffy family of wild felines didn't just pass through, but actually decided to borrow his porch to be their playground.

Newton woke to hear scrambling and rustling on his porch, and his first thought was of a break-in. But what he found was much, much adorable.

A lynx family— a mother and her kittens— were having playtime on his porch.

In an interview with The Dodo, Newton recalled:

"It was right near dawn. I heard some noises; it was like something scrambling on the deck. Coming out of my slumber, I thought, 'What the heck is that?' So I put on my bathrobe and slowly eased back the curtain. And right there, 2 feet away, was a lynx kitten. He was sitting there watching his siblings race by."

As Newton watched admiringly, a half dozen more kittens joined their sibling on the deck. And Newton, an animal lover and photographer, grabbed his camera.

The lynx family stayed long enough for Newton to take dozens of photos:

"They were running back and forth, pouncing on each other. I started snapping away. I thought, 'Wow! What incredible luck. This just beats all. This is just wonderful!'"

Lynx are notoriously elusive, and Newton had only spotted them several times in the wild. So, to get an up-close opportunity to capture them on camera— from the comfort of his own home — was thrilling for him.

He said:

"They were so cute. It was cute-tastic. It was amazing."

"For the next 40 minutes, they all played on my deck. They were chasing each other, rolling and wrestling."

Newton captured incredible photos of the adorable lynx, and while all the others seemed to not even notice him, one of them approached the screen to investigate:

"I don't know why I did this — maybe to say to him, 'Oh, what a cute little kitty!' — but I pulled the camera away from my face a little, and my eyes showed. The look of terror on that kitten's face! His eyes were wide open, and he just flew away from me! But the others didn't pick up on it."