NOTE: “Muluguun” is the Ngunnawal name for the beautiful platypus.
I used to have a platypus in a lake on my property in northern Tasmania. His name was Merlin.
Bilargun and Daroo 'The Platypus story'
When the old people sat around their campfire, they would tell the dreamtime story of the platypus.
"Once there was a water rat named Bilargun, while he was out hunting one day, he saw Daroo the duck, and decided that he wanted her as his wife. He silently swam underneath the water and grabbed her legs, and then took her back to his hole in the bank; which was his home. There he made her very comfortable and brought her food every day. They were very happy. Bilargun told Daroo that if ever she was in danger, to hit her tail on the water as a warning signal.
After some time, Daroo the duck had some babies, and do you know, they had Daroo the duck’s bill and webbed feet, and Bilargun the water rat's fur coat and a flat tail."
To this day the baby's ancestors can still be seen in the creeks and rivers, using the same warning signal. They are now called the 'Platypus'.
Source:
HERE
Australian Platypus Conservancy - Although platypus fur is very high quality, each animal provides only a small skin. Thus the amount of time spent in catching a sufficient number of platypus for a fur cloak or rug was probably rarely worthwhile compared to hunting more easily obtained mammals such as possums and kangaroos.
This relative lack of economic importance may explain why the platypus appears to have been rarely depicted in traditional aboriginal artwork.
