Mad Murduck
Chirping
Pea gravel ,straw, pine shavings have all worked for me. Mine only like to drill when the ground is freshly wet ,so I dumped a bag of river rock in the giant hole that they made around their water trough and placed the trough on top,it seems to have solved the problem. On the topic of free ranging,I may have been the most paranoid duck parent of all time on they day I first walked mine out,but to my surprise they stayed pretty close. If you have a visible kiddie pool they will most likely rush to it and not care about anything else .mine are junkies for kale and tomatoes, so having either of those handy ensures that even if they are feeling rebellious, they will come running. I am on the river and have a swimming pool so mine are only out when i am ,it took about three days before they learned to come when I whistle and to learn the line they dont cross into the pool. They are remarkably intuitive creatures that seem to always know what we are thinking. As long as they dont feel like they are being chased they will probably do what you wish. Good luck!
