We live on top of a plateau about 20 miles east of Seattle right on the edge of the Cascades. There's a whole town up here, schools, neighborhoods, golf courses, two pretty good sized lakes. The town believes in setting aside as much undeveloped space as possible and the trails up here eventually connect with the heart of the Cascades. All you have to do is follow one of the trails down the eastern side of the plateau. cross hwy 202 and there isn't much then on till you hit Idaho.
Of course, with all that there's a lot of wildlife. Two summers ago, our neighbor had a bear in her backyard. Last summer a mtn lion was seen drinking at the pond behind our house. It's not uncommon to see a photo in the weekly newspaper of a bobcat sunning himself in the middle of someone's driveway. Deer are everywhere, they're like dogs roaming the neighborhoods. They do a census every year of lions and bears. Last count there were 12 bear and two confirmed lions up here.
Coyotes are a problem. There's a pack that makes a circuit of their territory about every 3 months or so. I've heard them in the trees behind the house just beyond the fence when we lay in bed at night. Needless to say, there are no cats in the neighborhood and people watch their foo foo dogs with caution. I know one guy that lost one of his dogs to a coyote. He let both dogs out back at night and a coyote jumped his back fence. The male dog, a Chihuahua, of course charged it. Talk about a snatch and run! They found his remains the next day behind their property.
Knock on wood, I haven't actually seen bear or lion on our hikes. Sam (our 65 lb. Doodle) and I were walking in the woods last summer. He usually runs ahead of me, waits for me to catch up, then runs ahead again. I was daydreaming and suddenly noticed, no Sam. I look around and he's about 100 feet behind me just standing and staring off into the woods. I call him. He won't budge. I call him again. He still won't budge. He's just staring at a spot in the woods off to my right side. I'm slow but not totally stupid. We turned around and went back the way we came, not running but moving quite briskly. I know it wasn't deer because he just thinks they're big dogs and ignores them.
Living in DFW TX for many years I got in the habit of carrying a .45. I quit carrying when we moved up here because living on the plateau is like living in a Leave it to Beaver episode, only Ward drives an AMG Mercedes and June is a hot soccer mom in a Porsche Cayenne. I may have to get in the habit again.