A Whitmore Lake family had to grab life by the horns on Thanksgiving when a ram nearly forced its way into their home.

Shortly after finishing Thanksgiving dinner with his family, Mike Richard went to take his dog for a walk when a movement caught his eye. As he exited his garage, he saw a large ram grazing on the grass in front of his house.

"I ran back inside and I said to my wife, 'Paula, you'll never guess what's in the front yard,' " he said.

"We both went outside, the dog was still outside, and as soon as we went out of the garage again the ram saw us and started going after us."

Richard said the ram chased him and his wife into the garage but they managed to close the door into their house behind them before the ram could make it inside.

"Then I went out the front door to grab the dog," he said.

"The ram was inside the garage at the time trying to break down that door. I went to get the dog and when the dog started coming to me the ram came out of the garage and chased us into the front door."

At that point, the ram began its assault on the front door of the house, which involved breaking through the glass storm door before attempting to batter down the door.

"My father and brother-in-law were literally holding the front door up while this ram just bashed into it over and over again," Richard said.

"At that point it's clear the ram is trying to get into the house and my wife told me I was going to have to shoot it."

The decision to shoot the ram was taken in part to protect family members, including one pregnant woman and Paula Richard's mother who was sitting on the couch and has limited mobility.

"We were scared that it would get into the house and injure us and our guests, not to mention causing more damage than it already had," Paula Richard said in an email.

Mike, who has previously hunted deer and other small game, retrieved his gun from the basement and went onto his back porch to begin calling for the ram to come around toward him.

"I was making a racket and it came out of the garage and started coming to the back of the house and at that point I shot it," he said. "I put it down."

After he shot the ram, Richard came back inside and the whole family took a few minutes to figure out what had just happened.

"When all was said and done, we had a dead ram in the yard, a broken glass door, dented front doors, a completely broken kitchen door, and lots of adrenaline and disbelief running through the room to say the least--my pregnant sister-in-law even had a couple of contractions!" Paula said.

Mike Richard said he called the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office and deputies were dispatched to the scene to issue a police report. A neighbor from about a quarter-mile down the road eventually came to claim ownership of the ram, which had escaped from his fenced-in area on the farm.

"It was just one of those fluke things," Richard said. "Animals sometimes get out. I just wanted the police there in case I need to file an insurance claim."

Richard said the farmer told him that the ram could have been more aggressive due to the fact that it's currently breeding season for sheep and goats.

Michigan State University Extension educator Mike Metzger said that while sheep mating season is underway, it does not fully explain the ram's actions.

"The hormones can take over and the rams certainly would be more aggressive," he said. "But to try to get into someone's house, that's very unusual behavior."

The costs to repair two doors and the storm door are expected to run between $400 and $500, Richard said, and he plans to do the work himself.

"It's not something I would ever want to happen again. But I've been telling the story all day long and it's pretty amazing," he said. "Definitely a Thanksgiving we'll never forget."

Ben Freed is a general assignments reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at benfreed@mlive.com and follow him on twitter at @BFreedinA2. He also answers the phone at 734-623-2528.