I had a feeling you'd enjoy it.
There have been interesting stories about tool use and instruction of tool use by primates over the last few years. I'm away from the office right now, so I don't have my library of bookmarks to reference, but I'm sure they'd be easy to find.
Bears are smart. And determined. And fast. A few years ago there were four of them roaming our neighborhood causing all kinds of trouble. When they'd show up at the front door, I'd turn on the sprinklers to scare them and you'd never believe how fast a 350 pound bear can move.
By the way, if you like Brin, check out his blog, I think you'd like that too: Contrary Brin