Bears forgo many activities to conserve their energy in the winter when food is scarce, including eating, peeing, and pooping. There is one thing that they specifically DO do during the winter, though: give birth! But, giving birth during the harshest possible time of year seems like kind of a bad idea, so why do they do it? Hosted by: Hank Green SciShow is on TikTok! Check us out at www.tiktok.com/@scishow ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Bryan Cloer, Chris Peters, Matt Curls, Kevin Bealer, Jeffrey Mckishen, Jacob, Christopher R Boucher, Nazara, charles george, Christoph Schwanke, Ash, Silas Emrys, Eric Jensen, Adam Brainard, Piya Shedden, Alex Hackman, James Knight, GrowingViolet, Sam Lutfi, Alisa Sherbow, Jason A Saslow, Dr. Melvin Sanicas, Melida Williams, Tom Mosner ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? SciShow Tangents Podcast: www.scishowtangents.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/scishow Twitter: www.twitter.com/scishow Instagram: instagram.com/thescishow ---------- Sources: www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/denning.htm academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/93/6/1493/912716 www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=296 bmcphysiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6793-11-13 daily.jstor.org/how-to-be-the-fattest-bear/ www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4079694/ academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/93/2/540/924692 polarbearsinternational.org/polar-bears/life-cycle/ academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/93/6/1493/912716 www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/030096298190 www.nature.com/articles/srep40732 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5486538/ www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7251182/ www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0085253815557360 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2007.00096.x Images: www.istockphoto.com/photo/funny-black-bear-sleepng-in-bed-gm930281710-255065323 www.istockphoto.com/photo/brown-bear-with-two-cubs-looks-out-of-its-den-in-the-woods-under-a-large-rock-in-gm1312044246-400963085 www.istockphoto.com/photo/sleeping-grizzly-bear-brown-fur-tired-fluffy-gm689337860-126997655 www.istockphoto.com/photo/sleeping-bear-gm502898614-82204353 www.istockphoto.com/photo/alaska-peninsula-brown-bear-female-cub-nursing-ursus-arctros-at-hallo-bay-katmai-gm1278341833-377309957 www.istockphoto.com/photo/brown-bears-in-the-wild-gm636170212-112704403 www.istockphoto.com/photo/mother-bear-feeding-three-bears-gm168380700-20898180 www.istockphoto.com/vector/polar-bear-wood-engraving-published-in-1893-gm1295505577-389213436 www.storyblocks.com/video/stock/bear-cubs-and-mother-walking-through-snowy-wilderness-t6tju8h www.storyblocks.com/video/stock/mountain-caucasian-ground-squirrel-or-elbrus-ground-squirrel-spermophilus-musicus-is-a-rodent-of-the-genus-of-ground-squirrels-hhyv9m5gyktft18x6