This winter’s early snowfall, low temperatures and...

This winter’s early snowfall, low temperatures and fog could mean death to many California deer. State fish and game officials say that more than 100 deer herds are approaching the critical stage of their annual winter struggle for survival. Winter deaths vary from herd to herd, but several thousand deer on the Butte Valley range in Siskiyou County along the Oregon border north of Mt. Shasta and east of Yreka may have the worst of it, spokesman Paul Wertz said. Game officials already have seen some danger signs: deaths among fawns, and malnutrition that shows itself in coats with dull hair that stands up. Wertz said the size of the herd loss this year will depend on the severity of the weather over the next 60 days.