Late last summer, the Peavine mountain fire burned what remained of good winter habitat for a herd of deer that range between Reno and Truckee.  Biologists feared a hard winter would drive starving deer into the yards of rapidly encroaching houses, but Chris Healy of the Nevada Department of Wildlife says, so far, a mild winter is forestalling catastrophe.
 
Even though its kind of cold and everybody’s shivering and wearing their jackets, it hasn’t been that cold if you’re a mule deer, and we haven’t had lots of deep snow.
 
January is the region’s snowiest month, and officials still fear a major die-off or urban migration if snow levels get deep.  Biologists won’t know how many animals survived winter until the spring count in April.

Brian Bahouth KXJZ News.