Mount Emu Creek
| Mount Emu (Tarnpirr) | |
|---|---|
The Mount Emu Creek flowing under a bridge that carries the Glenelg Highway, near Skipton. | |
| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| State | Victoria |
| Region | Victorian Midlands, Naracoorte Coastal Plain (IBRA), Western District |
| Local government areas | Pyrenees, Ararat, Moyne |
| Towns | Beaufort, Skipton, Darlington, Terang, Panmure |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | north of Trawalla |
| • coordinates | 37°20′27″S 143°31′48″E / 37.34083°S 143.53000°E |
| • elevation | 405 m (1,329 ft) |
| Mouth | confluence with Hopkins River |
• location | near Cudgee, northeast of Warrnambool |
• coordinates | 38°19′36″S 142°38′22″E / 38.32667°S 142.63944°E |
• elevation | 28 m (92 ft) |
| Length | 250 km (160 mi) |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Glenelg Hopkins catchment |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Spring Hill Creek, Baillie Creek, Blind Creek, Elingamite Creek |
| • right | Trawalla Creek, Broken Creek (Victoria) |
| [1] | |
The Mount Emu Creek (Aboriginal Australian:Tarnpirr[2]), a perennial creek of the Glenelg Hopkins catchment, is located in the Western District of Victoria, Australia.
Course and features
The Mount Emu Creek is a 250-kilometre (160 mi) waterway and is the longest creek in Victoria. The creek rises near Trawalla and flows generally south by southwest, joined by six tributaries, before reaching its confluence with the Hopkins River, northeast of Warrnambool. The river descends 377 metres (1,237 ft) over its 271-kilometre (168 mi) course.[1] Mount Emu Creek is the major waterway within the Hopkins basin.[3]
The waterway starts as a series of creeks and waterways that merge to form the Mount Emu Creek, which flows through areas around Beaufort, Skipton, Darlington, Terang and Panmure. It joins the Hopkins River, which eventually leads out to sea at Warrnambool.
The Baillie Creek drains Lake Burrumbeet and flows into the Mount Emu Creek west of Snake Valley. The Elingamite Creek drains Lake Elingamite and flows into the Mount Emu Creek south of Terang.[4]
The creek is traversed by the Western Highway near Trawalla, the Glenelg Highway at Skipton, the Hamilton Highway at Darlington, and the Princes Highway near Terang.
Platypuses
Mount Emu Creek abounds in redfin and is the home of many platypuses.[5] Surveys in 1991[6][7] and 1996[8] confirmed that platypus are breeding successfully right in the heart of Skipton township, where on a bend in the creek at Stewart Park in the centre of town is a platform built on the banks of the creek from which to observe them.[9] An all night research session along the Mount Emu Creek was conducted by the Australian Platypus Conservancy in August 2003,[10] in collaboration with Skipton's Stewart Park Committee. A baby female was one of six platypuses found in the 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) section of the creek. Weighing in at 680 grams (24 oz), the tiny juvenile had probably only first ventured out of her burrow a week or so previously. Geoff Williams, a biologist with the Conservancy, said that the youngster was in really good condition and her presence confirmed that successful breeding is taking place in the township.[11]
Murdering Gully massacre
The Murdering Gully massacre occurred in a gully on Mount Emu Creek, where a small stream adjoins from Mérida station (near Camperdown) in early 1839. Between 35 and 40 men, women and children of the Tarnbeere gundidj clan were shot dead by Frederick Taylor and other shepherds for the killing of several sheep.[12][13]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Map of Mount Emu Creek, VIC". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
- ^ Clark, Ian. "Aboriginal Placenames - Reconstruction of Aboriginal microtoponymy in western and central Victoria". press-files.anu.edu.au. ANU. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ "Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority - Sub-Catchment H7". Archived from the original on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
- ^ Webb, John; Raiber, Matthias; School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences; Victorian Universities Earth and Environmental Science Conference (18th: 2004: Melbourne, Australia) (2004), Salt lakes and their influence on the salinity of surface waters in Mount Emu Creek and Fiery/Salt Creek, western Victoria, Geological Society of Australia, retrieved 17 February 2022
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Reclusive platypuses enjoying fuller rivers". Ballarat Courier. Ballarat, Australia. 7 October 2016.
- ^ Scuffins, Martin J; Ballarat University College. Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences (1991), The population status and ecology of the platypus (Ornithorhnychus anatinus) in Mount Emu and Baillies Creeks, Western Victoria, Australia, The Author, retrieved 17 February 2022
- ^ Prevett, P. T. (Pat); Stephens, P. (Paul Henry); Marion, Allison; National Estate Grants Program (Australia); University of Ballarat (1994), Status, ecology and behaviour of the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus in Mt. Emu and Baillies Creeks, Victoria, University of Ballarat, retrieved 17 February 2022
- ^ Hopf, Terri; University of Ballarat. School of Science (1996), Habitat use by platypus (Ornithorhychus anatinus) at Mt. Emu Creek, Skipton, Victoria, The Author, retrieved 17 February 2022
- ^ "6 reasons to visit Skipton". The Age. 3 March 2018. p. 6.
- ^ "Still in a Tangle" (PDF). Ripples: Newsletter of the Australian Platypus Conservancy (25): 2. September 2003. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
- ^ "This webpage has been moved to WWW". Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
- ^ "Museum Victoria [ed-online] Encounters". museumvictoria.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 September 2007.
- ^ "The vanishing: finding Private Jack.(Insight)", The Age (Melbourne, Australia), Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited: 21, 10 December 2016, ISSN 0312-6307