Lil Quacks Refuge.

16/10/2026

Hey wilding fam!

We will be here tomorrow from 12 till 4 which means pick ups/rescues will be a bit harder to do.

So give us a bit of patience while we navigate meeting you all and rescue life!

Anyway if you want to come in meet us we would love to see you!

There will be a lot of fun even a duck hunt! Of the non shooting kind of course!

Its all guna be so good see you there!

Remember teamwork makes the dreamwork!

15/10/2026

Hey wildling fam.

Today we need to talk about Poppy. And we need to talk about why dumping domestic animals into the wild is not a kind act, a second chance, or giving them their freedom.

Because Poppy is what happens when humans let animals down.

Poppy was forced to survive in the wild, and somewhere along the way, she suffered toxic shock. She was once able to live a relatively normal life, but the damage left her with a neurological condition that meant some days she looked almost completely normal, and other days she struggled.

That was Poppy's reality.

She couldn't have a pond like other ducks. She couldn't just go about her life without extra care and consideration. And she had to be separated from her babies, who were still with her when she came to us. Those babies were half domestic and half wild, caught in the consequences of human decisions they had absolutely no say in.

Yesterday, Poppy was struggling again. So we did what we always do when she has a bad day. We brought her inside, where she could be safe, warm and cared for, away from the things she couldn't manage on her own.

We did what we could to give her comfort.

But last night, Poppy passed away.

And I don't think people understand how much these animals carry because of human choices.

Poppy was let down by humans long before she ever came to us. She was let down by the people who allowed her to end up in a situation where she had to survive in the wild, despite being a domestic animal. She was left to face consequences that she never asked for, and she spent the rest of her life living with the damage.

We couldn't undo what happened to her. We couldn't give her back the healthy body she should have had. We couldn't change the beginning of her story.

But we could make sure she wasn't alone at the end of it.

We could give her somewhere safe to go when her body was struggling. We could bring her inside, look after her, and make sure she was cared for on the days when she couldn't manage. We could give her the patience and understanding she deserved.

And we did.

Poppy mattered. Her life mattered. She wasn't disposable because she was a duck, and her suffering wasn't any less important because she wasn't a human.

Please, if you have a domestic duck, goose, rabbit, or any other domestic animal you can no longer care for, do not dump them outside and tell yourself they will be fine.

Domestic animals don't magically become wild animals because we abandon them. They can suffer, become sick, be injured, struggle to find appropriate food and shelter, and produce babies who inherit a world of problems they never chose.

If you can no longer care for an animal, find help. Reach out. Ask for assistance. There are options, even when things feel impossible.

But please don't make the animal pay for a human problem.

Poppy deserved better from the very beginning.

I'm grateful she had somewhere to come when she needed it. I'm grateful we got to know her, care for her, and give her safety when her body was fighting against her.

I just wish humans hadn't failed her so badly.

This is what happens when humans feelings get in the way of animal welfare.

Thankyou Ann Coates for supporting poppy, via sponsoring her throught her time here we all appreciated that.

Rest easy, Poppy. You were loved here, little girl. And you always deserved to be.

teamwork makes the dreamwork

15/10/2026

Hey wildling fam!

Oh my lantus honestly the stories write themselves here..

WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO PICK UP A DUCKLING. YES, ANOTHER DUCKLING. SURPRISE ABSOLUTELY NOBODY.

But apparently the universe saw us coming and decided we hadn't had enough duckling related nonsense for one day.

On the way, we came across a mama duck and her babies making their way along the road. Now, credit where credit is due, these little feathered mashmellows ALL listened to their mum and got themselves off the road and onto the safety of the grass.

ALL EXCEPT ONE.

Because there is ALWAYS ONE.

This particular child had discovered a worm in the gutter and apparently decided THIS WAS THE HILL THEY WERE PREPARED TO DIE ON.

Mama was walking off with the rest of the kids, getting them somewhere safe, and this absolute little MENACE was down there having a five-star dining experience with its worm.

No thoughts. No awareness. No survival instincts currently available. Just WORM.

So naturally, we stopped, because apparently we are physically incapable of driving past a duckling situation without getting involved.

We got the wee criminal moving and managed to get it running back to mum, WORM STILL IN MOUTH.

I need you to understand that this tiny creature was being reunited with its family while refusing to surrender its takeaway.

Priorities.

And MAMA.
LOOK AT MAMA.

As you can see, this woman has HAD ENOUGH. She has reached the end of her parenting tether. She has seen things. She has raised a child who will apparently risk its entire existence for a roadside snack, and she is now BALD WITH WORRY.

I can practically hear her thinking, "I HAVE NINE CHILDREN AND ONE OF THEM IS GOING TO GIVE ME A STROKE."

BUT WAIT. IT GETS WORSE.

Because apparently we hadn't yet completed our daily quota of roadside duck-related incidents.

AN ENTIRE OTHER DUCK decides she's going to cross the road.

And not just casually wander across, no. This woman is ON A MISSION. She has somewhere to be, someone to confront, and absolutely no regard for the fact that she's about to become a traffic incident.

So there I am, standing in the road stopping traffic so this feathered woman can make her grand crossing safely.

And does she thank me? Does she quietly go about her business?

NO.

THE SECOND HER FEET HIT THE OTHER SIDE, SHE MAKES A BEELINE FOR THE OTHER DUCKS AND STARTS SCREAMING AT THEM.

SCREAMING. ABSOLUTE. BLOODY. CARNAGE.

Now, I'm no Jeremy Kyle, but if I didn't know better, I'd say this woman has just discovered her husband has been living a double life and has an ENTIRE BONUS FAMILY HE FORGOT TO TELL HER ABOUT....actually forget lil quacks and the adventures of the land ark, its all Jerry springer up in this bitch.

She's crossed four lanes of traffic to confront the situation. She has arrived on the scene. She has QUESTIONS.

AND SHE IS GOING TO GET ANSWERS.

Meanwhile, I'm standing there having stopped traffic for what has apparently turned into a live episode of Pondside Affairs: The Duckling Drama.

SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE! AN AMBO! THE BLOODY SPCA! This domestic is waaaayyyy above my pay grade.....as if I get paid to do this s**t lol!

We've got one baby in the gutter committing worm-related crimes, one mama duck two seconds away from a complete nervous breakdown, and another duck who's apparently just discovered her partner has been running a whole second household down the road.

AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN PICKED UP THE ORIGINAL DUCKLING YET.

I would like to formally request that the universe stop sending me duck-related side quests. I have animals to collect, feed to prepare, babies to raise, and apparently a full cast of ducks requiring relationship counselling.

At this point, I don't rescue animals. I just get unwillingly cast in their ongoing reality television series.

Lil Quacks Refuge: where the ducklings are questionable, the mums are exhausted, the marriages are apparently complicated, and nobody is allowed to eat a worm in peace.

RIGHT. OFF TO GET THAT DUCKLING.

Remember teamwork makes the dreamwork!

15/10/2026

Hey wildling fam!

Remember this weekend we will be here to meet ya all!

Also remember teamwork makes the dreamwork!

🦆 SOME VERY SPECIAL GUESTS ARE COMING TO VISIT! 🐦💛

Get ready for some serious cuteness! 🥹💚

We’re so excited to welcome Lil Quacks in-store on Saturday 17th, from 12pm–4pm! at Pet Central Hornby 🎉

And guess who might be coming along? 👀

Bring the kids along for a fun visit, get creative with a special colouring activity 🎨, and help us support Lil Quacks with donations on the day. 💛

✨ Cute critters, little artists and lots of feel-good vibes — what better way to spend a Saturday?

📅 Saturday 17th
⏰ 12pm–4pm
📍 Come and see us in-store! Pet Central Hornby 5a Chappie Place

Tag someone who would LOVE to meet these little visitors! 👇🐾

🦆💛 Lil Quacks Refuge.

14/10/2026

HEY WILDLING FAM!

Lil Quacks has apparently become the bloody DUCKLING FACTORY OF CANTERBURY and nobody has told me when production is supposed to stop.

Duckling after duckling after duckling. Tiny fluffy potatoes with feet. Little peeping machines. Pocket sized chaos merchants arriving like they’ve all been given our address and a group discount on admission.

I’m expecting one to turn up wearing a tiny backpack with a note saying Mum said you’d know what to do.

And just when I think we’ve reached peak duckling, ANOTHER ONE APPEARS.

Every now and again, though, we get a different bird thrown into the mix to remind us that apparently we are not, in fact, exclusively running a duck daycare.

Yesterday we had a little thrush come in from Shirley Vets, and we’ve also got another baby pigeon joining the ever-growing feathered circus.

So yes, we have ducklings coming out of our ears, but the occasional other bird does wander in to keep the plot interesting.

Also, that absolute MENACE in this picture?!

LOOK AT IT.

Every other duckling is sitting there looking like they’ve been instructed to remain calm and dignified for the official Lil Quacks annual report.

Little stoic faces. Composed. Professional. Giving absolutely nothing away.

AND THEN THERE’S THAT ONE.
MOUTH.
WIDE.
OPEN.

I don't know what it’s yelling about, but I can guarantee you it has a problem with management.

Probably screaming about the unacceptable snack-to-duckling ratio. Demanding a bigger brooder. Threatening industrial action because someone was three seconds late with breakfast.

THE REST ARE SILENTLY ACCEPTING THEIR FATE AND THIS ONE IS CALLING A BLOODY PRESS CONFERENCE.

We haven't even had this one long enough to learn its name and I already know it's going to be the loudest, most dramatic little s**t in the entire department.

Every flock has one.

And naturally, ours has arrived with its mouth already open and absolutely no intention of closing it.

Honestly, between the ducklings, the thrush, the baby pigeons and whatever other feathered surprise Canterbury decides to launch at us next, I suspect peace and quiet has officially been removed from our list of available services.

We are a wildlife refuge.
We are a bird rehabilitation space.

We are apparently also a full time complaints department for tiny birds with absolutely no concept of office hours.

SEND HELP.

Actually, don't. Send duckling crumble. We have approximately seventeen thousand tiny mouths to feed and at least one of them is already yelling at me.

Thank god that one will eventually be released because Im telling you we have enough loud smart mouths over here we dont need more opinionated as****es......

Remember teamwork makes the dreamwork!

14/10/2026

HEY WILDLING FAM!!!

I NEED EVERYONE TO APPRECIATE THE TWO ABSOLUTE FERAL-HEARTED LEGENDS WE HAD OUT THERE TODAY BECAUSE WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL!!!!

YES IM YELLING BECAUSE....

Opps, I mean im yelling because these people are bloody heros!

A man comes across a swan stuck out where the tide was, and this poor girl has a BROKEN LEG.

Now, most people might think, oh no, poor swan, someone should help her.

NOT THIS BLOODY MAN.

THIS MAN STOPS HIS CAR, GETS OUT, AND WADES THROUGH THE MUD TO GET TO HER.

SIR. MY GUY. YOU BEAUTIFUL MUD-COVERED MENACE. YOU DID NOT HAVE TO GO THAT HARD, BUT GOSH DAM IM SO BLESSED YOU DID! AND HERE WE ARE.

And because the universe occasionally decides to show us that humanity hasn't completely lost the plot, one of our wilding fam happened to come across him at that exact moment, stopped to help, and rang us to get us involved.

But WAIT. IT GETS BETTER.

This man sits with this injured swan, keeping her calm, staying right there with her because she's hurt and frightened and needs someone.

And do you know how long this absolute champion sat there?

LONG ENOUGH FOR HIS OWN LEG TO GO TO SLEEP.

HE SAT SO STILL THAT HE COULDN'T GET BACK UP.

I AM SORRY, SIR, BUT YOUR LEG HAS APPARENTLY SUBMITTED ITS RESIGNATION WHILE YOU WERE BUSY BEING A BLOODY SAINT.

Imagine the scene. One broken legged swan. One human who has apparently fused himself to the muddy ground in the name of keeping her calm. Another of our wildling fam stopping to help. And us being contacted to get involved.

ABSOLUTE CHAOS. BEAUTIFUL, MUDDY, HEART-EXPLODING CHAOS.

And I need to make something VERY clear here.

Neither of these people had to stop.

They could have driven past. They could have assumed someone else would deal with it. They could have decided that an injured swan wasn't their problem.

But they DIDN'T.

One got out of his car and went through the mud to reach her. The other stopped, helped, and made sure we were contacted, those foot prints in that mud go alot further than the picture shows, and he looks alot more muddy than his picture also, hes taking half the bloody landscape home with him honestly.

THAT is what stepping up looks like.

We see a lot of heartbreaking things doing what we do. We see animals who have been failed, injured, frightened, and left needing someone to give a damn. And sometimes the weight of that gets bloody heavy.

Then two humans come along and remind us why we keep doing this.

Not because they wanted recognition. Not because someone was handing out medals for Best Muddy Human of the Year. But because an animal was hurt, and they couldn't just leave her there.

To the man who sat in the mud until his leg bloody CLOCKED OUT, and to our wildling fam who stopped to help and rang us, THANK YOU.

Seriously. From the absolute bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU.

You saw someone who needed help, and you acted. And that swan had people beside her when she needed them most.

We might be the ones doing the rescue work, but we will ALWAYS appreciate the people who step up alongside us. It takes a whole lot of good humans to get these animals through the bad days.

And to our muddy mate: please know that you are appreciated, you are a legend, and I hope your leg has returned to the group chat, swan mud wrestling is the hardest profession and you really handled it like a pro!

We can not stress how fortunate and blessed we all are to have people like all of you here, somewhere out there is a swan who needed help, and a man who apparently decided he was going to become part of the mud until she was safe.

WILDLING FAM, THIS IS YOUR REMINDER THAT YOU ARE AWESOME!

Also if anyone knows this man, feel free to tag him, and if you know him shake his hand for me, i didnt because he had muddy gloves and i just touched a muddy swan with bare hand....anyway, buy him a b**r, or, maybe hes a scotch man, i dont even know give the guy a drink anyway. He deserves it.

Remember teamwork makes the dream work!

14/10/2026

Hey wildling fam!

Thankyou so so much for all the donations! It has helped so much, infact I am writing this as we are on our way into town to pick up a poor swan with a broken leg, we cant do these things without all of you!

Anyway I need to tell ya about something that happened today because I bloody love it when people do stuff like this without being asked.

So we normally get our feed from farmlands Feed Barn Christchurch, and every year they bring out this particular duck tucker for hunters. Now, we're not buying it for the hunting, obviously, we're buying it because we have an entire bloody army of feathered freeloaders to feed and we're always looking for ways to keep the costs down.

Every year it's the same deal. When it's gone, it's gone. That's it. No more. See ya next year.

BUT THESE ABSOLUTE LEGENDS!

Apparently, they found some hiding away out the back somewhere, and instead of just leaving it there, they thought of us. They decided to hold it, see if we wanted it, AND offer us a discount!

We popped in today and THERE IT WAS. Sitting there waiting for us.

And before anyone asks, NO, we didn't ask them to do this. We didn't go in hinting, asking for favours or trying to get a deal. THEY came up with this themselves.

They found it, thought of Lil Quacks, and decided to do something to help us out.

Do ya understand how much that means to a place like ours?!

We go through a ridiculous amount of feed. There are mouths to feed everywhere you bloody look, and none of the feathered, furry or four-legged residents seem particularly interested in getting jobs to contribute to the grocery bill. Rude, really.

We're a charity. We're not government funded. Everything costs money, and the feed bill alone is enough to make ya want to lie face down on the floor for a bit.

So when someone finds a way to help us save money WITHOUT US EVEN ASKING, it genuinely means a lot.

Because every dollar we save on feed is a dollar that can go towards vet bills, medication, heating, enclosures and the next little disaster that comes through our gate.

And this is what community looks like. Not always big donations or grand gestures. Sometimes it's someone out the back of a feed store finding something useful and thinking, HEY, I WONDER IF LIL QUACKS COULD USE THIS?

And off ya go. You've made our day.

So to the team at Farmlands Feed Barn Christchurch, THANK YOU!

You didn't have to do this. Nobody asked you to. You just thought of us, and that's the bit that gets me.

Meanwhile, somewhere around here, a duck is probably eating like royalty without having the slightest bloody clue that someone just helped keep its dinner costs down.

THE AUDACITY OF THESE ANIMALS.

But seriously, thank you. From the humans trying to keep this whole operation running to every single beak waiting for its next feed, we appreciate you and everyone who has given donations this is what its all about, community!

Also, please note our new tyre photo bombing the picture. Apparently yesterday’s mention went straight to its head and it’s now decided it’s a full-blown content creator. We’ve created a monster.....

Remember teamwork makes the dreamwork!

13/10/2026

Hey wildling fam!

We've been out to Kaiapoi from burnham TWICE today, Spencer park then over to Sydenham, so there's been a fair bit of driving happening already!

I have used $100 of my own money today alone....
We also had a blow out this is the second tire in a matter of a few weeks, so we had to pay for a new one.

That being said, we won't be able to do any trips north of the Waimakariri tonight. We've got nothing left in reserve in the account or the tank, and as much as we'd love to keep running around helping everyone, we've hit our limit for today.

We can still take intakes here at Land Ark for the rest of tonight, so if you've found someone who needs us, please get in touch and we can arrange an intake.

The good news is we should be in a better position tomorrow, and we'll be able to get back into things then.

But here's the reality of running a rescue like ours. Every pickup costs fuel, every trip takes time, and every dollar we spend getting out to an animal is a dollar that has to come from somewhere. We're not government funded, and we don't have an endless supply of money sitting behind us. We do what we can with what we have, and sometimes that means we have to stop, refuel, and start again.

If you'd like to help us keep getting out to rescues and picking up the animals who need us, we'd be incredibly grateful for a donation.Even a few dollars towards fuel helps us get back out on the road. It all adds up, and it genuinely makes a difference to how many call-outs we can attend.

If you can help, please donate to Lil Quacks Refuge. If you can't, sharing this post helps too.

We aren't giving up, we're just running on empty tonight. Tomorrow we'll get back up and keep doing what we do.

Thanks for being in our corner, Wildling fam.

Remember teamwork makes the dreamwork!

13/10/2026

Hey wildling fam!

The duckling department is running steady over here! We've got everything from wee tiny babies to the bigger ones who are almost completely rehabbed and getting ready to head back outside where they belong.

It's a whole production line of peeping, pooping, eating, growing and me questioning how on earth one person can go through so much bedding. The duckling department never closes, apparently.

BUT we also picked up this wee gem!
Apparently, this little lovebird was mistaken for a SQUEAKY DOG TOY.

A LOVE BIRD. MISTAKEN FOR A DOG TOY.

Now, I'm not sure whether to laugh, cry or have a conversation with the dog about appropriate toy choices, but thankfully the owners had found us and picked this wee one up.

This is why having somewhere safe to take these little ones matters. Not everything that ends up in a dog's mouth is a toy, and sometimes the tiniest lives need someone to step in and give them a chance.

So while the duckling department continues its daily operations of absolute feathered chaos, we've had got this wee lovebird gem in the mix too.

Because apparently, around here, you can't just run a duckling department. You have to be prepared for the occasional squeaky toy emergency as well.

Anyway it went home with his owner not long after we got him thankfully and as for the rest of the brood the bird was released after a time of getting pampered and the ducklings are kind of taking over!

Remember teamwork makes the dreamwork!