Maeve, my surveillance elf is far too astute to be detected ... she is unlikely to be in animal guise, whether stoat, weasel, ferret, coyote or porcupine and although her singing voice has been criticised it has never before been described as "howling wildly". I suggest you put all of your efforts into better behaviour (it is misleading to think that if you are working hard you are necessarily behaving well ... much depends on what kind of work you are doing) and don't try too hard to spot my elf. The occasional bowl of porridge (I believe you refer to it as "oatmeal") left in a quiet spot might help (sweetened with honey and cinnamon, if it's not too much trouble) and if my elf doesn't eat it perhaps some other creature might.
You have, however, successfully worried my reindeer now about the presence of the coyotes. Rudolph wonders whether a glowing proboscis is likely to scare them off.