Where I grew up it was always within less than 2 min walk to the country side, if I could not see the fields or forest it was because of a tree in our garden.
But I have always been told that the foxes, herons, deer and some squirrels and some bird were very shy. And if you wanted to see them you had to get up very early in the am and be very quite plus lucky to be able to the them.
But living in London, you just have to to go out after 10pm and you will see more foxes than cats around. Or just pop down onto the canal and you will see herons wandering around. And when you ride through Richmond Park you see more deer (I know that they are a managed herd) than you can shake a stick at.
When I grew up it was quite a big thing to say that you managed to see a heron while out walking, foxes and deer was a major thing. But in London they are all over the shop.