I too went out with food and water for the birds in my (rural)garden. The footprints in the snow indicated that a whole lot of creatures visited, not just birds.
Animals that we never normally spot left tracks behind. The little muntjac deer, fox, hares and rabbits, also, heaven help us, a rat or two from the fields.
Even rats have to make a living in hard times, and country rats don't seem as horrid as sewer rats.