CARATUNK – A Maine game warden escaped serious injury when his snowmobile broke through thin ice on a Somerset County pond.

The Maine Warden Service says Scott Thrasher got a dunking in waist-deep water in Pleasant Pond in Caratunk about 10 feet from shore around noon Friday.

Warden service Sgt. Ralph Hosford said Thrasher and another warden were patrolling the pond in anticipation of ice-fishing season.

Just last week, the warden service issued a warning urging people to use extreme caution before venturing onto Maine’s lakes this early in the winter season.