Jenna Bush Hager’s Home Erupts in Chaos After Chipmunk Runs Inside: ‘Get It Out!’

Jenna Bush Hager’s attempt to head out with her family took an unexpected turn when a chipmunk dashed through an open door and into their home—sending her cat into pursuit and leaving the TV host calling her husband for help.

The 44-year-old recounted the incident during the Oct. 21 episode of “Today With Jenna & Sheinelle,” sharing footage that her elder daughter, Mila, recorded as the family tried to get the animal back outside.

“There was a little chaos that went down this weekend,” Bush Hager told viewers.

Her co-host, Sheinelle Jones, had a different assessment of that description: “That’s an understatement.”

Before the chipmunk appeared, Bush Hager and her husband, Henry Hager, had been preparing to leave with Mila, 13, and son Hal, 7. They were heading to collect their middle child, Poppy, 11, from a birthday party.

Instead, the family found themselves trying to manage an animal chase inside their house.

“We were going, we were out the door, I was kind of grabbing stuff. All of the sudden, the door opens and a chipmunk ran into my home,” Bush Hager recalled.

The encounter prompted her to reference a familiar movie scene, asking, “Y’all know 'Christmas Vacation'?”

In “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” a squirrel emerges from the family’s Christmas tree, setting off a frantic effort to remove it. For Bush Hager, the comparison offered a way to explain how quickly an ordinary moment at home had unraveled.

Mila’s recording captured the family’s competing reactions. While Bush Hager wanted the chipmunk removed immediately, her daughter was worried about what might happen if their cat, Maisie, caught it.

"Get it out! Get it out! Henry, get it. You’re the man!” Bush Hager shouted in the footage. Henry was less convinced that he could take charge of the situation.

“There’s no way I can get a chipmunk!” he responded.

As Maisie raced after the animal, Mila repeatedly pleaded, “No, don’t let Maisie kill it!”

Discussing the recording afterward, Bush Hager acknowledged that her instinct was to put distance between herself and the commotion while urging her husband to intervene.

“Mila was filming it. I couldn’t even watch. This is what happens when things go wild. I run the other way, and I yell things like, ‘Henry, you’re the man!’” she said.

However, she also had a practical reason for moving through the house: preventing the chipmunk from gaining access to more rooms.

“I was going to close other doors because I didn’t want him to get far," she explained. "I was like, ‘Secure the perimeter!’”

Jones credited Henry with being the family’s “crisis coordinator,” while also finding humor in Maisie’s sudden shift from pampered pet to determined pursuer.

She teased Bush Hager about the affectionate way she usually talks about her cats, contrasting that image with Maisie’s response to the chipmunk.

“Jenna’s always like, ‘Oh, Maisie, Maisie, Maisie,’ put little glasses on ‘em, put a little coat, little shoes,” Jones joked. “‘Oh, Maisie, she’s like a little human!’ Well, let a chipmunk run in there, Maisie turned into her innate cat self.”

Bush Hager then explained that one part of Maisie’s grooming routine limited the cat’s ability to scratch the animal. The family uses nail caps to protect their furniture, and Maisie was wearing a seasonal set.

“Maisie gets a manicure. Maisie has little caps on her nails so she doesn’t tear up our furniture,” she said. “Right now she has Halloween colors. So she has a manicure, so Henry’s like, ‘That cat can chase after, but he can’t scratch it.’”

Bush Hager noted that biting remained a possibility, even with the protective caps covering Maisie’s nails.

Ultimately, Henry and Maisie helped resolve the interruption together. He opened the door, and the cat chased the chipmunk back outside—ending the household scramble that Mila had captured on camera.