I just learned something truly fascinating. There were no coyotes east of the Great Plains before the 20th Century! I had always thought that coyotes and wolves coexisted, though they occupied slightly different niches in the same ecosystem. Asiaticus informed me that coyotes didn't move east of the Mississippi until after the larger wolf was hunted out of the east at the end of the 19th Century. I verified this through some research.
Why is this important? Because Lizzie Smith could never have put up a sign saying, 'Coyotes Have To Eat Too!' There were no coyotes! She wouldn't have even known what a coyote was! She would have put up a sign saying, "Wolves Have To Eat Too!' Coyotes never showed up in North Carolina until the 1970s. In the interim, other predators would have picked up the slack, eating any crooks and thieves the Culverins left out in the woods. So, I had to do a minor rewrite, switching out coyotes for wolves.
It's time for another few chapters. Enjoy!