It should be fine. I have sometimes used a ring of wire mesh around them. Squirrels don't like capsaicin, the stuff that makes hot peppers hot so you could try soaking some hot peppers in hot water or oil for a couple of days to make a hot pepper tea and spray that on the plants you want to protect.

Any time you have a clematis with only one vine it should be pruned back to encourage additional vines to sprout up from the buried crown. Tossing a few alfalfa pellets on it and keeping well watered helps.

Thanks for the advice about the pepper tea, NHBabs. Buyorsell, I did't know such pruning advice applied to as soon as the clematis is planted. I always thought it applied to the following late-winter/early-spring, no matter what pruning type it is actually in. Good to know.

Always a good idea to prune back clematis after just planting. It encourages the plant to start developing a healthy root system, which will increase disease resistance and generate additional stem development from the root crown.

If the stem has buds when planted some of us wait to see those bloom to be sure it is the clematis we expect and because we want to see the blooms. Then cut back as soon as those first blooms fade.