Fortunately for John, Hickey's current form is based off tuunbaq, a god of the North taken form of a polar bear, a creature of flesh and spells that guarded the land and took revenge on those interlopers. The guardian and protector of the Arctic and the Netsilik people.

What this means is it can't climb trees for shit.

So as John scurries up the tree, Hickey attempts to climb it as well before sliding back to the ground. He tries one more time but those claws weren't meant for climbing. So instead, he skulks around the bottom before calling up, "Coward!"