“She was really fixated on it …”
By Stephen Messenger
Published on Feb 7, 2026 at 6:11 PM
The other day, Oregon resident M. was holding down the fort at a family member’s house, with her trusty dog, Billie, in tow, when a faint sound in the den began to grow louder. It was difficult to pinpoint at first.
“It was this kind of scratching sound in the wall,” M. told The Dodo. “I looked at the wall like, ‘What’s that?’”
Then, after a moment, there came a plop — someone had fallen through the home’s chimney pipe and into its unlit wood-burning stove.
And that got everyone’s attention.
Billie was intrigued, knowing, perhaps, who’d landed inside the stove even before his mom did.
“She was really fixated on it,” M. said.
So, M. went in for a closer look. And peeking through the stove’s glass door, this is what she saw:
Turns out, a local squirrel who’d been exploring the roof had decided to venture down the chimney pipe — unaware, presumably, of where it would lead.
Or who he’d come face-to-face with at the bottom.
At first, M. wasn’t sure how to safely remove the squirrel, but her family member soon returned home to tackle the job. After moving Billie out of reach and opening up an exit to the outside, M.’s family member swung open the stove.
“The squirrel saw the doorway and felt fresh air — and boom! Out the door he flew,” M. said.
All had been set right. Well, except maybe for Billie.
Having not been present to witness the squirrel’s safe release, Billie’s clearly been thinking about the squirrel she once saw trapped behind the glass.
“The next time we went to visit the house, Billie went straight over to the stove and looked in it,” M. said.
But alas, no more squirrel.
A squirrel rescuer familiar with the incident says that while this case had a happy ending, similar situations can turn tragic — especially if a stove is lit or the animal isn’t discovered in time.
For this reason, she recommends that all homeowners install a mesh screen over their chimney pipes to prevent wildlife from accessing them.
Billie might disagree, but she’s biased, of course.