Harlan's Last Woodpecker Logs

The Backroad Report
Stories From the Missouri Ozarks
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“Most feeders are built for sparrows. Nobody builds one for the woodpeckers.” — Why a 73-year-old Missouri sawmill man is selling his last hand-turned logs at a special price, before he puts down his tools for good.

2 days ago | Dana Crowell | Advertorial | 6 min read
Harlan Doss next to his cedar log feeder on the dogwood, a downy woodpecker eating from it
Harlan Doss (73) next to one of his cedar logs. Since 1997 he has made about 1,900 of them.

Three Days in January. One Small Woodpecker. Nothing to Eat.

A downy woodpecker pecking at a frozen fence post in the snow
A downy woodpecker on a frozen fence post. In deep cold, the bugs it looks for are out of reach.

In January 1997, a small woodpecker spent three days pecking at a bare fence post behind Harlan Doss’s house outside Eminence, Missouri. It was looking for bugs. There were none. The post was frozen solid.

Harlan watched it from his kitchen window every morning. On the third day he walked out to see what it was after.

“There was nothing in that wood,” Harlan says. “That bird was working for nothing. And all over the county, people had feeders hanging. Not one of them was any good to him.”

The Hungriest Birds in the Woods Are the Ones Nobody Feeds

Woodpeckers live on what they find in bark: beetles, larvae, ant eggs. In summer there is plenty. In a hard freeze, the bugs go deep, and the woodpecker has to burn more energy than it finds.

A downy woodpecker weighs about as much as five quarters. On a freezing night, a bird that small can use up a big part of its fat just to stay warm. Every morning it has to find that fat again.

Why woodpeckers go hungry
  • Frozen bark. In deep cold, the bugs they live on are locked away in the wood.
  • Old trees are cut down. Dead and hollow trees are their pantry, and they are the first to go.
  • Feeders are made for perching birds. A woodpecker does not sit on a perch. It clings to a trunk and leans on its tail.
  • Spring is just as hard. When the young hatch, the parents need fat every hour to keep them fed.

And woodpeckers do real work. They pull beetle larvae out of the trees in a yard, the kind that can slowly kill an oak or an ash. A yard without woodpeckers is a quieter yard, and in time, often a sicker one.

Some of them are getting hard to find. The red-headed woodpecker, the one with the all-red head, has lost more than half of its numbers across North America since the 1960s. Every yard that feeds woodpeckers through the winter gives them one more place to get by.

One Man in the Ozarks Knew Exactly Which Wood to Use

Harlan turning a cedar log on his old green lathe, shavings flying
Harlan’s shed behind the house. The floor is covered in cedar shavings.

Harlan Doss graded lumber at a cedar sawmill in Birch Tree for 38 years. By his count, half a million cedar posts went through his hands. He can smell a good piece from across the room.

That January day, he took a leftover post, drilled a hole in it and packed it with beef fat from the kitchen. He hung it on the dogwood by the window.

“The next morning there were three woodpeckers on it. Three. A woodpecker doesn’t want a perch. He wants a tree to lean on. So I gave him one.”— Harlan Doss

The First Log Still Hangs by the Kitchen Window

The first log from 1997, weathered gray, with a hairy woodpecker, seen from the kitchen window
Log No. 1 from 1997, seen from Harlan’s kitchen window.

That first log is gray now, and one edge of the lid is chipped. It has fed woodpeckers every winter for 29 years.

“I’ve had two dogs and a pickup truck since then,” Harlan says. “The log is still up there.”

Why the Woodpeckers Never Leave Harlan’s Logs

A red-bellied woodpecker and a chickadee eating suet from the cedar log at the same time
Two birds, two holes, one log. Every detail came from watching the birds.
What makes Harlan’s log different
  • The Tree-Trunk Stance: A 16-inch upright log. Woodpeckers cling to it and lean on their tail, just like on a real tree. It doesn’t swing like a wire cage.
  • The Rain Cap: A round cedar lid, wider than the log. Rain runs off, and the suet in the holes stays dry. “Wet fat goes bad. The birds know it before you do.”
  • The Six-Pocket Layout: Six round holes on two sides. Several birds can eat at once without pushing each other off.
  • The Heartwood Rule: Solid cedar. No paint, no glue. Cedar keeps rot away on its own. “Cedar doesn’t need paint. Paint needs cedar.”
  • Press-and-Go Refill: Push a suet plug, a suet ball or a piece of suet cake into a hole. That’s it. About ten seconds.
  • The One-Hook Hang: A sturdy metal hook on top. A branch, a shepherd’s hook or the edge of a porch roof will do.

Seven Names Written in Pencil on a Shed Door

On the door frame of Harlan’s shed, there is a list in pencil. It is every kind of woodpecker that has ever come to his logs.

Harlan’s door frame
  1. Downy Woodpecker
  2. Hairy Woodpecker
  3. Red-bellied Woodpecker
  4. Northern Flicker
  5. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  6. Red-headed Woodpecker
  7. Pileated Woodpecker — 2009

The last one is the big one, with the red crest, nearly the size of a crow. “I was seventy feet away with my coffee,” Harlan says, “and I still shook.”

“My Wrists Can’t Hold the Drill Steady Anymore”

Harlan resting his hands on a cedar log at the drill press
Drilling the six holes is the hard part. That is where Harlan’s wrists stop.

For almost 30 years, Harlan’s mornings started the same way. Coffee at the kitchen window. Count the birds. Then out to the shed, with the Cardinals game on the radio and the smell of fresh cedar. That is what he will miss most.

But Harlan has arthritis in both wrists. Turning the log still works, slowly. Drilling the holes does not. Twice this March, the drill jumped out of his grip. His doctor told him to stop before he tears something.

“I used to make forty of these on a Saturday,” he says. “Now I can’t drill one clean hole.”

83

cedar logs are left in Harlan’s shed. When they are gone, there won’t be any more.

“I Don’t Need the Money. I Need to Hear the Knocking.”

Harlan holding one of his last cedar logs, the rest of the batch on the bench behind him
Harlan’s last logs, waiting in the shed.

Harlan could ask a lot more for a hand-turned cedar log. His granddaughter told him to charge double. He said no.

“The woodpeckers can’t pay,” he says. “I want these hanging in yards this winter, not sitting on a shelf. If somebody out there hears that knocking in the morning like I do, that’s my payment.”

That’s why he set a low farewell price. He wants all 83 up on trees before the ground freezes.

Harlan doesn’t own a smartphone. Last spring his granddaughter Kaylee filmed the big pileated woodpecker at his kitchen window and posted it. Over 40,000 people watched. Dozens asked where to get a log. Kaylee found a small online shop, Cedar & Tin, that now ships the last ones. “Kaylee does the computer,” Harlan says. “I do the wood.”

While Harlan’s last logs are still available:
See the Last Logs
Check availability →

What Bird Lovers Say About Harlan’s Cedar Log

  • ★★★★★

    “For years my suet cage only got starlings. Three days after I hung Harlan’s log, a downy woodpecker was on it. Now there are two of them every morning.”

    – Linda R., Columbus, OH
  • ★★★★★

    “It rained for a week straight in October. The suet in the holes stayed dry under the lid. You can smell the cedar when you open the box.”

    – Bob H., Springfield, MO
  • ★★★★★

    “I bought one for my mother. She calls me every Sunday to report who came to the log. Last week it was a flicker.”

    – Susan K., Louisville, KY

“A Woodpecker Will Pass a Perch and Stop at a Log”

Ray Dunnigan has led bird walks as a Missouri Master Naturalist for 22 years. He looked closely at Harlan’s log.

“Woodpeckers are built to climb up a trunk and brace with their tail. An upright log gives them exactly that. Put a lid on it to keep the suet dry, and you have the feeder they would pick for themselves.”— Ray Dunnigan, Missouri Master Naturalist

Questions About Harlan’s Cedar Log

Where can I buy Harlan’s cedar log?

Only on this page, through Cedar & Tin. Harlan’s logs are not sold on Amazon or in any store.

How long will they be available?

Only while the last batch lasts. Right now there are 83 logs left. When they are gone, Harlan will not make any more.

What if the woodpeckers don’t come?

You have 30 days to try it. If you are not happy, send a short email and you get your money back. No risk, no hassle.

The ground freezes soon. The log should be up before it does.
Check Availability
Limited quantity
  • ★★★★★

    “Hung it on our old maple in November. By Christmas there was a red-bellied woodpecker and a pair of nuthatches taking turns.”

    – Carol M., Rockford, IL
  • ★★★★★

    “Refilling takes ten seconds. I just push the plugs in with my thumb, even with gloves on.”

    – Dennis W., Nashville, TN
  • ★★★★★

    “My grandson and I count woodpeckers now, just like Harlan. Now there is a list on my garage door too.”

    – Martha J., Tulsa, OK