For the birds

There has been much talk lately about housing in Mount Horeb. But while government leaders grapple with how to find and address human home shortages, there is no doubt that one type of housing is abundant, diverse and very affordable. 

It all began seven years ago, when Ken Beyer, recently retired from his career as a truck driver, eyed a pile of scrap wood in the corner of his garage. The son of a carpenter, he knew a bit about woodworking. He wondered what he could do with the odds and ends piled up in front of him. 

“I hate to throw away wood,” he explains.

So he made a birdhouse. Then another. Then another. And so on. 

Last year he built an estimated 2,500 of them. Birds of nearly every shape, size and temperament are currently living and eating in the structures he built, from the woods and prairies of Wisconsin to climates far different across the country. 

“How can you look at a piece of wood and not see the beauty in the grain?” he asks rhetorically. He loves the smell of the sawdust, the look of the avian homes he builds, and the new things he learns when researching different species. He also loves the personal stories of the people who approach him and ask him to build specialty bird houses, some modeled after Lutheran churches or other human or mythological structures, or even small homes for books. 

“I can build just about anything people want,” says Beyer, 77. “Custom houses, feeders, little free libraries.” 

Beyer builds abodes and feeders for owls, butterflies, bluebirds, orioles, purple martins, bats, even orphaned baby weasels. Today, he likes to spend three or four hours a day in his workshop. In the spring and summer, he tries to also squeeze in some time in the adjacent greenhouse. 

While his earliest projects were made from an assortment of wood, he now primarily uses cedar, for its longevity and its resilience. In addition to new boards, he also finds uses for odds and ends, including the scraps left over from area fencing jobs and old barn boards. He researches different types of animals; their needs and their behaviors. He has grown knowledgeable in the art of shou sugi ban, the Japanese practice of weatherproofing wood with the careful application of fire. 

“I’m at peace out here,” he says. “Nothing is better than the smell of wood.” 

Despite his prolific output, and the serenity he finds in the shop, Beyer does not have set hours at his place of work. “I’m not a typical businessman,” he says. “I don’t keep specific hours. When I’m here, I put the sign out.”

That sign can come down in a hurry, though, if something more important comes up. 

“If someone calls and wants to go fishing, that comes first,” he says. 

A bottle of half-full (or half-empty, depending on your chosen worldview) wine sits nearby. A refrigerator houses cold beer. It is a happy place, where the air smells of wood and friends drop by unannounced for a drink and a chat. 

To find out more call 608-469-5792 or email beyerkenrose1@aol.com.