Where do they go?

There are more things in heaven and earth Nonnie
The truth is out there
I will say no more ......

Its snowing so hard they will soon be covered and I will think I imagined it.

We have very strong winds here Nonnie, maybe they were blown away!
Over the hills and far away......
Or maybe they sank down into the snow and their little bodies will be found when it thaws, but I prefer the first option.

Swooped on by something winged and hungry ?

They back up being very careful to place their paws ? in exactly the previous paw print.

Yes. I used to watch our cats reusing the pawprints in the snow for return journeys. With two of them using the same tracks the pawprints got bigger and bigger over time until it looked like we had a visiting tiger!

I can see where the cats have walked and then they jump up on to the fence. Can also see where the fox has been over the fence by next doors shed roof. 4 evenly spaced prints unlike the cats.
Then there are the footprints made by the wood pigeons. And now it is all starting to melt.

Just watched a squirrel leap from the 5' fence, scurry about in the bit I cleared yesterday to put out scraps for the birds, then using its tail, clear a bit of fresh snow away to reach some more raisins. Finally, another giant leap to the bottom of the fence and scrambled up and over.

Well, nothing but bird prints here, which is good as it confirms that we have got rid of the rats that we discovered were living in the back yard when it snowed before Christmas.

Mind you, a very strange-looking 4 - 5ft deep snow drift has formed across a big swathe of our back garden. On one side it is right up to the top of the chain link fence that separates us from our neighbour, about where a local cat often climbs over. I hope I don't go out to find a big cat-shaped hole where said cat has leapt onto the top of it thinking it is solid ... !

What ever made the paw prints walked very close to the protected side of the garden, out of the wind and I don't think (don't want to think) that anything big enough could have come into the garden and grabbed them!

No bird prints at all and the seed and fat balls don't look like they have been touched although they usually need to be replenished every few days. The only birds I can see are two fat pigeons which sit on a branch of the walnut tree looking like vultures!

Not going out to look closer, no sign of a thaw so I am staying in for the duration.