Nope, pepper is food and is so aromatic the scent wafts for miles. Some animals don't experience the hot sensation like humans. My towns animal control officers found that pepper spray doesn't work on some dogs and don't carry it anymore.
Tasers and guns do work.
The "Cool Hand Luke" thing is a myth. Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters both had episodes on it. A dog will find you if it wants to bad enough.

Noise and light might scare off your critters....lay a trip line to an alarm/strobe around your camp?

I rarely sleep in a shelter when on the ground in the desert and get a kick out of the kangaroo rats sneaking in at night.
Flashlight runs them off, but they are right back in seconds,
and fun to watch. Never had a real problem with any critter
checking me out, big or small.