Here, in rugged terrain owned by the American public, a little-known federal agency called Wildlife Services has waged an eight-year war against predators to try to help an iconic Western big-game species: mule deer. Tom Knudson tknudson@sacbee.com Mule deer graze this month in Nevada's Granite range where Wildlife Services has spent more than $500,000 killing 45 mountain lions and more than 950 coyotes in an effort to boost mule deer numbers.