In Annapolis, bats are rushing the Halloween season. Worse, they’re rabid bats. After a pair of the flying mammals was found at Cathedral and Dean streets, the Anne Arundel County Department of Health advised anyone who’s had contact with a bat to be evaluated. If a bat flies in, avoid contact by confining it an unoccupied room or covering it with a trash can — if you can — until help comes: 410-222-8900…

On Chesapeake Bay, where watermen are themselves fearing extinction, the Ehrlich administration has proposed more motorized dredging to raise harvests of the Bay’s remaining oysters. Power dredging, once banned because too many oysters were harvested, would be opened in several new areas, including waters off of Anne Arundel and Calvert counties. Public hearings are Aug. 29 in Leonardtown and Sept. 8 in Easton …

In Maryland, Aug. 31 is the deadline to apply for a permit for the 2005 black-bear hunting season. From the $15 applications, 200 bear hunters will be chosen by lottery to hunt Oct. 24 to 29 and Dec. 5 to 10 in Garrett and Allegany counties. Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ “harvest objective” is 40 to 55 bears for the season …
New Jersey last week became the 25th state to ban MTBE, the groundwater polluting gasoline additive that Maryland still allows …

In Spain, this summer’s jellyfish problem makes ours in the Bay seem barely worth mentioning. The Red Cross reported that its lifeguards had treated 11,000 people for stings along just one section of the Mediterranean coast, Reuters reports. Researchers say that unusually warm water has brought the aquatic varmints closer to shore as they seek nutrients from wastewater and farm runoff …

Our Creature Feature comes from Mexico, where they’re trying a new tact to fight turtle poaching: sex. Earlier this month, 80 rare olive Ridley sea turtles were found bludgeoned on a beach, killed for their eggs, which some regard as an aphrodisiac.

Next month, an advertising campaign featuring an alluring Argentine model will begin in the southern state of Guerrero. On posters and billboards, the model says: “My man doesn’t need turtle eggs.”