We have lived in our house for 29 years on 5 acres surrounded by woods. We have never cleared our property and in the years we have lived here we've seen deer (love my roses), possums, squirrels (love to talk to my dogs), porcupines (trip to vet for dog), coyotes, raccoons, bobcat, owls (big owls), and a bear. The dogs treed the bear but weren't barking and my husband went to see what they had been chasing, thinking it was a raccoon and he was going to rescue it. He started talking to it and then the face peered around the trunk and there he was with a rake in his hands. We brought the dogs inside and called our neighbor who is a US Forest Service Ranger who said it was more afraid of us and would leave soon. Husband took the shotgun out and fired a round in the air and there was the sound of branches breaking and then brush and it was gone. It's always an adventure. At our house in Ocean Shores the deer know they are protected and they roam around freely and aren't even scared of you. Some people feed them (against the city laws) so they have become pretty tame and stroll down the streets and through yards without a care.