Sounds like coons. What is your pond like? How deep is it?
I wouldn't use those granules. They could end up in the pond.
If you can't move your plants closer to the center of your pond, you might have to get one of those spraying scarecrows or put up an electric wire around your pond.
Raccoons can be a real pain in the behind.

It's a small pond, between 150-200 gallons. There's a ~1' deep marginal shelf and then a deep section that's around 2.5',. The rocks overlap the edge a bit as well. Not really anywhere to move the plants. :/ My deep section has my water lilies in it.

I don't think they can get any of the fish unless the pond floods over after a downpour (I lost one goldfish when this happened while I was out of town, I'm thinking he was rooting around in the new found shallows buffet and something snatched him. No sign of him anywhere, he's just gone).

I was looking at the scarecrow, but I don't want anyone walking into my yard (like my mom or grandma) to get sprayed.

You might consider a line of electric wire around it, on a timer that only is on at night. You can get a solar charger, but that's probably more than you want to pay.
Do you have a bird feeder in your yard? If the coons return, you might consider getting rid of the bird feeder. It can really attract them. They love eating the seed that has fallen........then they find other things in your yard to ransack.
Once I quit feeding the birds, I didn't have any of the previous raccoon problems.
Or if you keep your garbage cans close to your pond, you might try moving them further away.

Raccoons were constantly tearing my pond up and getting my koi until I bought a "cat scat" its one of those ultrasonic pest repellers.. We have a Wilco here and that's where I got it but it cost about $60 and I have had it for 2 years and no problems since then.