I treat my yard as a natural meadow the best I can. I only mow once or twice a year and we're slowly pushing out the grass previously planted. I dislike the look of a traditional boomer suburbia yard. I much prefer the wild look.
We don't rake at all. I prefer to just let things do their thing and I'm also far too lazy to bother raking. We live in an area surrounded by woods.
We have snakes and foxes and hares that come out of the woods from time to time. A ton of birds. It's perfect.
PEI is worth the visit if you're in the area. I moved here 5 years ago. It's really nice.