1774 Call of the Wild

I had a technological moment the other day. By which I mean reveling in the possibilities of new gizmos. Then worrying about the consequences.
I don't think the Amish thing would work for me. Though I'm often suspicious of new machinery and inventions, I also like finding interesting ways to use them.
I wondered recently about the Amish when I saw all the stumps left behind after the ice storm. Lots of people just cut down their unsightly broken trees and were done with it. But not quite. They still had to deal with the stumps. So stump-grinding businesses are thriving.
An amazing machine. Try googling a video of a stumpgrinder. It does some serious damage. So what's an Amish guy to do? Dig it out? Bring in a very hungry ass from the back forty? Or a highly trained beaver?
You see what I mean.
Anyhow, I found something cool the other day. My laptop can be used to talk to wildlife. Well, actually, mess with wildlife's heads. I found this great website, allaboutbirds.org. They have the birdcalls of all sorts of our avian friends, from red-tailed hawks to spotted towhees.
I found if you take your WiFi enabled laptop out on the deck you can make the birds at the birdfeeder think some of their companions are close. I played the towhee call and within seconds one was making the same call behind me on my deck rail.
I felt like Doctor Doolittle. Except I had no idea what I'd said. And, um, the bird was leering at me somewhat lasciviously.
Awkward...
I quickly called up the shriek of a red-tailed hawk.
The towhee beat feet, or wings anyhow.
Bye-bye Towhee. And bye-bye uncomfortable cross-species moment.
Technology can be tricky.
America, ya gotta love it.