Snake Valley

History

The Indigenous Australians inhabited Snake Valley for tens of thousands of years before Europeans arrived. The Carringum balug people of the Wathaurong nation were on the land surrounding Snake Valley/Carngham district. The nearby town of Carngham therefore appears to be the name of the Aboriginal people that originally lived in the area. They called Snake Valley itself nimbuck or nimlock. In 1857, a gold rush occurred in the area of Snake Valley and Carngham. The town reputedly got its name when a miner found snakes in a sinking shaft. However, settlement preceded this as a primary school was established in 1854. The town was exclusively a gold mining area for at least ten years. In 1865, Bailliere’s Victorian gazetteer recorded Snake Valley as having five hotels, a mechanics' institute and a Court of Petty Sessions. In the 1880s, the Victorian municipal directory described Snake Valley as "a straggling mining township with outlying farming districts" and recorded five churches.

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,494
• Superb Fairywren

  Malurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) · Aves
  1,392
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  1,058
• Little Raven

  Corvus mellori Mathews, 1912 · Aves
  1,014
• Crimson Rosella

  Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  945
• Pacific Black Duck

  Anas superciliosa J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  923
• Gray Shrikethrush

  Colluricincla harmonica (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  870
• Gray Fantail

  Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840 · Aves
  860

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2013-05-01
  7 km NW of Clifton Springs, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2003-02-02
  9 km N of Trentham, Australia