- « "Some sort of arboreal raptor, tree climber, trust me, you don't want that thing to come through!" »
- — Matt Anderson[src]
Tree Creepers were a species of arboreal raptor from the Cretaceous period.Their bodies were designed for moving quickly through forested areas and grabbing hold of victims with the flexible and strong tail. Their name was given to them by the Time Tribe.
Characteristics
Tree Creepers ranged in size from six to ten feet tall, with a raptor-like head, very large claws on their hands which they could use for supporting their bodyweight in an ape-like stance, and a long, prehensile tail. They were strong and extremely agile, and they were well-camouflaged in their home environment. A few direct shots from an EMD could neutralise a Tree Creeper immediately, although one diluted shot would be less effective.
In forested areas such as those of their natural home, Tree Creepers usually hunted from high up among the canopy; a Creeper would quickly and quietly jump from tree to tree, stalking its ground-based prey, then upon getting directly above its target, the Tree Creeper would lower itself into the lower branches of the tree and wrap its long prehensile tail around the victim to drag it up into the tree to its death.
Though Tree Creepers usually hunted from up in trees, they could alternatively hunt from on cliff faces or among scaffolding depending upon the environment. When in wide open spaces on the ground with no near canopy or confronted up on their high-vantage points by other animals, Tree Creepers could change their fighting tactics from their hunting tactics, going into a vicious, deadly frenzy in which they slashed madly at their enemy with their lethal claws and used their tail as a whip.
Tree Creepers appeared to be mostly solitary creatures, which lived within numbers in a single environment but hunted alone. However, Tree Creepers did apparently still have some form of social structure, as they were known to respond to and follow each-other's calls from on high vantage points. (Episode 4.3)
Incursions and encounters
Episode 4.3
A Tree Creeper on the theatre roof sending out a call. (Episode 4.3)
During their journeys through the Anomalies, the Time Tribe arrived in a hill range in the Cretaceous, inhabited by Tree Creepers. While there, the Tribe were forced to capture, kill and cook Tree Creepers for food. Two Tree Creepers came through an Anomaly to a Cooper Street theatre in the present and avoided being seen by the ARC team.
In the Cretaceous hill range, Matt Anderson and Emily Merchant were stalked by a Tree Creeper, which dragged Emily up into a tree before releasing her and retreating when Emily stabbed it in the tail. After Matt returned to the locked Anomaly with Emily, a Tree Creeper stalked them. When the Anomaly was unlocked and Matt retreated through it with Emily, the Tree Creeper followed them through. However, it was forced back through the Anomaly by EMD shots.
One of the two Tree Creepers that had already come through the Anomaly made its way up onto the theatre's roof, while the other remained in the theatre and killed an ARC soldier. the latter Tree Creeper came across and nearly attacked Hilary Becker, but when the Tree Creeper on the roof called for backup, the other Tree Creeper was distracted and abandoned Becker to find a way onto the roof.
The Tree Creeper in the theatre retreated up into the rafters in the theatre ceiling, avoiding Abby Maitland and tripping her up with its tail at one point. However, Abby lowered a stage light the Tree Creeper was perched on to the same level as her, then tricked it into jumping into another stage light. The Tree Creeper then fell down onto the stage below, where Becker shot it with an EMD. It's unknown whether the Tree Creeper died from the EMD shots, or was returned through the Anomaly.
A Tree Creeper behind Becker. (Episode 4.3)
Meanwhile, when Matt and Emily found the other Tree Creeper climbing along the outside of an office block, Matt used his EMD to send an electric charge up the building which electrocuted the Tree Creeper. The Tree Creeper was then fired through a window into an office in the building. When Matt and Emily went into the office and found the Tree Creeper there; the creature attacked them and trapped Matt under a table. However, Emily managed to force the Tree Creeper to retreat back outside by making acid and throwing it in the creature's face.
Matt and Emily then followed the Tree Creeper onto the building's roof, where Matt distracted it with a pole, while Emily secured two wires around the creature's neck and restrained it by tying the wires to the roof's railing. However, the Tree Creeper broke free and attacked Matt, who jumped out of the creature's way; causing the Tree Creeper to end up falling off the roof to its death in the street below. Abby and Becker cleared away all the evidence of the dinosaurs being in the present.
A Tree Creeper on Lester’s car during Convergence. (Episode 5.5)
Episode 5.5
- « "Oi! Have you any idea how much that thing cost!" »
- — James Lester[src]
When Convergence occurred in 2011, a Tree Creeper came through an Anomaly into the ARC's car park, and curiously investigated James Lester's new Jaguar nearby. Lester soon came down into the car park via the elevator, and quickly dispatched the Tree Creeper with an EMD. The creature's fate is unknown, though it was presumably either killed by the EMD shot, returned through the Anomaly or placed in the Menagerie.
Gallery
Trivia
- The Tree Creeper is possibly adapted from concept art for the Future Predator in which it was depicted as reptilian.
- The Tree Creeper is Hannah Spearritt's favorite creature from Series 4 and Series 5.
- Like the Precambrian Worms, Silurian Scorpions, Silurian Millipedes and possibly Carboniferous Arachnids, the Tree Creeper was also an undiscovered species.
- The Tree Creeper was also the first fictional dinosaur in the show.
- Fans have suggested that the Tree Creeper was loosely-based on the humanoid troodontids, or Dinosauroids, imagined by paleontologist Dr. Dale Russell.
- Other fans have speculated that the Tree Creepers could be another example of creatures from the Anomalies influencing mythology, as they resemble the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp.
A dead Tree Creeper. (Episode 4.3)
- The way the creature was tied in the rope by Emily and Matt might be a reference to the way cowboys tied the Allosaurus in Valley of Gwangi.
- The death of the last Tree Creeper near the end of Episode 4.3 after falling from a tall building was similar to King Kong's death in the 1933 film King Kong and the 2005 remake. It was also similar to the Carnotaurus' death in the 2000 Disney film: Dinosaur.
Errors
- It would be almost impossible for a creature of the Tree Creepers' size to have enough muscles in its body to have such a flexible and strong tail. Also, it was identified as an "arboreal raptor" by Matt Anderson, but all known raptors had very stiff tails that were used to steer the animals at high speeds, and not to grip onto branches like Tree Creepers can.