There are ways to test the ice, people.
Can you list some?
Ice even remotely thick to be tempting must be pretty rare in Arizona. No?
We always sent our big dog out first. Then, big rocks. This was in Texas where frozen ponds were rare before globull warming.
Hear the Otherworldly Sounds of Skating on Thin Ice
Definately not something to do with your snow mobile even when you have a foot of ice. Where Mrs. Pete grew up in N. Illinois, people would go bar hopping across the lakes in winter with their snowmobiles. Invariably some would find the soft spot over the spring and not be found until the spring. (At least the snowmobiles.)