One Chicago research team has squirrel on the brain. Their new research project focuses on how the little rodents survive in the city.

The team had captured and tagged a number of squirrels with collars with cameras to see how they survive and why they do the things they do.

Biologist at the University of Illinois-Chicago Joel Brown "We're trying to get a glimpse of what your life is like if you are a city squirrel."

So far, 90 percent of the squirrels they tagged have been killed by vehicles as they crossed the busy city streets. They also discovered that squirrels are very competitive when it comes to food.

A squirrel will often pretend to hide a nut inside the ground and even smooth over the ground to make it look like something is buried. But then the squirrel will run off, nut in cheek. The team assumes this is being done to throw off fellow squirrels.

This is one of the few studies that focuses in animals behavior in a man made environment.

Brown said, "Our appreciation is least in our own backyard. They are the clowns in your backyard."