Mount Emu Creek
The Mount Emu Creek, 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 waterway and is the longest creek in Victoria. The creek rises near and flows generally south by southwest, joined by six tributaries, before reaching its confluence with the Hopkins River, northeast of Warrnambool. The river descends over its course. Mount Emu Creek is the major waterway within the Hopkins basin.
The waterway starts as a series of creeks and waterways that merge to form the Mount Emu Creek, which flows through areas around,, Darlington, and. 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. The Elingamite Creek drains Lake Elingamite and flows into the Mount Emu Creek south of Terang.
The creek is traversed by the Western Highway near Trawalla, the Glenelg Highway at Skipton, the Hamilton Highway at, and the Princes Highway near Terang.
Platypuses
Mount Emu Creek abounds in redfin and is the home of many platypuses. Surveys in 1991 and 1996 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. An all night research session along the Mount Emu Creek was conducted by the Australian Platypus Conservancy in August 2003, in collaboration with Skipton's Stewart Park Committee. A baby female was one of six platypuses found in the section of the creek. Weighing in at, 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.
Murdering Gully massacre
The Murdering Gully massacre occurred in a gully on Mount Emu Creek, where a small stream adjoins from Mérida station 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.