Axle, the three-year-old who miraculously survived a night lost in the Tolaga Bay bush, has been trying out a new whistle he now wears around his neck to make sure the incident isn't repeated.
The whistle was gifted by a local Gisborne woman and has Axle’s name engraved on it.
Video supplied to 1 NEWS shows a happy looking Axle saying he isn't planning on running off into the bush again, before blowing on his new whistle which will help people locate the curious youngster.
The neighbour's dog Bro also features in the video, keeping watch over Axle like he did when the three-year-old first went wandering.
Axle went missing on Tuesday afternoon, sparking a large search. He was found safe and well on Wednesday morning.
Stu Gilbert from SOS Survival Training told 1 NEWS kids were "extremely resilient" and Axle had shown this.
"Obviously a child of that age isn't able to process or reason like an adult. And because of that he wouldn't of necessarily been thinking about fear, the unknown," he said.
Perhaps not thinking about that fear is how Axle managed to survive a 7C night, about 4km from his home near Tolaga Bay, in just a nappy, a t-shirt and some gumboots.
"I think this boy survived because he's been exhausted, he would have been crying for his mum and dad, that would have got him to sleep and he's found a place where he feels comfortable and secure," Gilbert said.
He reckoned a lot of adults could take a leaf out of Axle's book.
"Kids are extremely resilient and this little boy's shown this so where that's come from, I don't know. Whether it's where he lives, the parent's he's with, the people he socialises with.
"I'm not sure but he's definitely shown that at an extremely young age, which is fantastic, and a lot of adults can definitely take a leaf out his book."
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