​The cooling winds of autumn ushered the month of October in rather abruptly. By the end of this month, Long Islanders will have settled into the temperatures, rituals and landscapes that define the fall season. Human and canine residents alike will be enthusiastically coming together at one harbor village for its annual fall revelry.
 
This year marks Port Jefferson’s 8th annual Harvest Festival, featuring attractions and activities for everyone. Meet and greet a legion of scarecrows on display along Scarecrow Alley, lining the street to bid an eerie welcome to festival visitors.
 
Meander through exhibits of classic cars and antique farm machinery, take in a glow-in-the-dark puppet show and embark on a haunted walking tour. Be dazzled by a wood carver at work, and be creative at a seasonal crafting session. There will be live music, live dance performances and a host of other activities throughout the harbor village streets.
 
The event of the day that draws the most concentrated crowd of participants and spectators, however, is the dog costume parade. Every year, man’s best friend joins in the Halloween festivities by donning a costume and strutting his or her stuff along the parade route. From cute, silly and creative to beastly, scary and bad to the bone, each costume is scrutinized by judges, and every pup’s owner fervently believes that his or her dog should win the grand prize. Ultimately, the fun is in taking aim with cell phone cameras to capture the most uniquely costumed canines.
 
When the chill strikes and rattles your inner skeleton, you can warm up by sidling over to the open flames of a fire pit with skewered marshmallows in tow. The marshmallow roasting tradition is set up in the parking lot in front of The Frigate. Alternately, head over to the Village Way to register for the annual Chowder Crawl, which will enable you sample different piping hot chowders. Other tasty eats and beverages include wine and cheese tasting, roasted corn, beers from Port Jeff Harbor Brewing Company, steaming hot tea from You, Me and Tea and plenty of locally produced edibles at the Port Jefferson farmers market. Merchants throughout the village will be welcoming trick or treaters, and don’t forget to take the family pooch to Fetch Doggy Boutique and Bakery for his or her own fanciful treat for being such a cooperative sport at the parade.
 
The Harbor Festival runs from noon until 5:00pm on Sunday, October 25, and the farmer’s market is open from 9:00am until 2:00pm. The dog costume parade begins at 2:00pm at the corner of East Main Street and Arden Place, in front of Fetch Doggy Boutique and Bakery. A complete schedule of events and activities will be posted at the Village Way restaurant on Main Street, or you can access the flyer at http://portjeffchamber.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Harvest-Fest-2015-Flyer.jpg.
 

For an afternoon of animal attraction, practice your Dr. Doolittle and head into Manorville for hands-on interaction with the residents of a unique community.

The Long Island Zoological Society’s Animal Farm Petting Zoo & Family Park opened in 1981 with the goal of providing sanctuary to a host of furry, scaly and feathery friends. While most animal shelters take in dogs, cats and the occasional rabbit, other types of unwanted pets and farm animals are welcomed into the Animal Farm Petting Zoo to take up residence in a haven that offers proper care, shelter and the socialization that is provided by this special zoo’s tourists. Many of the animals are appointed into the zoo’s successful adoption program for placement into new forever homes. The Animal Farm Petting Zoo’s rescue and adoption efforts and the numerous opportunities for guests young and old to feed, pet and interact with many of the animals in their charge are the things that make this zoo unique and admirable.

Among the animals, which total well over a hundred, residents include pigs, goats, emus, llamas, ducks, rabbits, a wallaby, a scarlet macaw, a camel, fallow deer, a red-tailed hawk, a bobcat, alpaca, cows, snow monkeys, iguanas, snakes, tortoises and many more critters to see. Tourists can bottle feed young pigs and goats, offer feed to the camel and to other animals, and even snuggle and cuddle with the softness of lovable ducklings and bunnies. Animal lovers of all ages will delight in the opportunities to get up close and personal with the creatures, many of which were once pets and are outgoing and appreciative of human contact and companionship.

Additional attractions at the Animal Farm Petting Zoo to keep little ones amused include a puppet theatre, a safari train ride, plenty of kiddie rides and a free pony ride with admission. Take a break in between feeding the furry ones to feed the family and romp around in the picnic areas and playgrounds. The Animal Farm Petting Zoo is a delightful choice for a child’s birthday party venue.

Be sure to browse the gift shop and select some souvenirs of your day’s outing. The Animal Farm Petting Zoo is a non-profit organization, funded solely through donations and through your purchases and admission to the zoo. This funding provides for the animals’ shelter maintenance, feeding and medical care.

The Animal Farm Petting Zoo is located at 296 Wading River Road in Manorville and is open to the public from April through October. For directions, hours of operation and information about their rescue and adoption programs, visit www.afpz.org

The waters that surround our island are home to fish, mollusks, crustaceans and other underwater creatures. They are also host to seals and turtles. The Riverhead Foundation, an organization that is dedicated to the rehabilitation of stranded sea life as well as to the education of the public about our local marine ecology, has come to the rescue of numerous turtles since the water temperatures dropped last fall.

Turtles are reptiles. They are cold blooded, they require air for oxygenation and they do not lay their eggs under water. Sea turtles subsist on an omnivorous diet of seaweed, crabs, snails, jellyfish and other marine life. There are four species of sea turtles that commonly dwell off of Long Island’s shores, and the populations of all four of them are either threatened or endangered. The largest of the four is the leatherback, identified by the characteristic black, leather-like skin that covers its shell, or carapace. The green turtle, although not herbivorous, prefers a diet in which plant material is the predominant ingredient. The other two sea turtles are the loggerhead and the Kemp Ridley.

The Kemp Ridley is the smallest of the four sea turtles, both in size and in number. Although it is the most abundant of the sea turtles that are found in Long Island’s waters, it is in fact critically endangered. Documentation of Kemp Ridley turtles sited in the Sound dates back to the early 1900s. The number of Kemp Ridley turtles has since declined sharply, due to increased beachfront development, increased boat traffic, fatal boat strikes, oil spills and other manmade perils. Trawling nets that were once used by commercial fishermen for gathering and hauling in shrimp were responsible for sea turtle deaths until legislation mandated the use of turtle excluder devices when trawling the Atlantic waterways to prevent the turtles from becoming snared in the nets.

One of the natural threats to the lives of our sea turtles is a common condition called cold stunning. The Kemp Ridley turtle nests along the Gulf Coast of Mexico, and the young turtles migrate up the Atlantic seaboard to feed and live their young lives, returning to Mexico’s shorelines when they are ready to nest. Those that get caught in our northern waters after fall's chilly temperatures have set in become cold stunned, a term used to describe a state of hypothermia that afflicts sea turtles when the water temperature drops below 55 degrees. Because turtles are cold-blooded, they are not able to regulate their body temperature. The effects of cold stunning include a drop in heart rate and circulation, lethargy, disorientation and shock. Turtles that are found cold stunned on the beach are often immobile, appearing stunned. They can suffer from pneumonia, and if they are not rescued and properly rehabilitated, they will die.

The Riverhead Foundation has released a respectable number of turtles that they have successfully rehabilitated. Once a turtle is ready for release back into its natural habitat, it is equipped with a satellite tracking device so that the turtle can be monitored and valuable information can be garnered in the ongoing efforts to research ways to save the turtles from extinction. Each year, the 5K Run For the Ridley marathon takes place in Riverhead to raise funding for research and care and to raise awareness of the sea turtle’s plight. The 18th annual Run For the Ridley will be held later this year, on October 24, 2015.

If you find a sea turtle, or any other marine life, washed up on the beach and in possible distress, you are urged to call the Riverhead Foundation’s emergency hotline at (631)369-9829. Do not return a turtle to the water, and do not attempt to rewarm the turtle if you believe that it is cold stunned. Efforts to do so can throw the turtle into thermal shock. With what we all hope to be the final snow event of the season behind us, the water temperatures can only begin to warm up. This should usher in the seasonal end of cold stunned turtles, and Long Islanders will welcome a new crop of juvenile Ridleys for their summer sojourn. A return to the waves and beaches is, after all, what summer on Long Island is all about.

If opossums, owls and other nocturnal party animals intrigue you, consider joining one of the refuge's organized full moon walks and learn about the region's creatures of the night.  The Quogue Wildlife Refuge is dedicated to educating the public about local ecology and zoology.  Periodic seminars, organized group nature walks and children's activities are held to carry out this mission.  Fundraising events are also hosted to help finance the refuge operations, maintenance and the care of the animals in their charge. Festive holiday events, scout programs and summer camps are also popular.

Crisp fall air and the season's scent of fallen leaves are a call to hike and commune with nature and with the creatures that you meet along the way.  The Quogue Wildlife Refuge is located on Old Country Road in Quogue.  The trails and wildlife complex are open daily, and the nature center is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends.  Visit www.quoguewildliferefuge.org for hours, directions and event information.

Prepare to parade your pooch in full Halloween regalia. On Sunday, October 26, the village of Port Jefferson will host its annual pet costume parade. Costumed canines will take over East Main Street as part of Port Jefferson’s fifth annual Spooktacular Harvest Fest, all tricked out and strutting their stuff while their doting humans beam like proud parents.

Is your dog ready? A visit to your local pet supply retailer can help. This year, shops are boasting bigger than ever racks of costume inventory and record high revenue from the sale of Halloween finery. Devil, pumpkin and hot dog costumes consistently rank among the most popular choices. If you happen to be creative or handy with a sewing machine, you can opt to create a unique original for your furry runway model.

Hundreds of dogs participate in the event each year for pet-loving spectators to marvel at. From fuzzy spiders that don’t quite make the creepy cut of being squash worthy to bumble bees and ladybugs, insects are another common theme that scuttles along the parade route. Bewitching characters sporting pointed hats and capes are joined by dogs in black cat costumes that, for a couple of hours, teeter on the brink of identity complexes.  There are angels to counter the devils, and you will surely see ballerina divas, biker babes and plenty of pirates. Can you identify all of the Disney princesses on site, even with black-nosed faces and with tails peeking out from under their gowns?

The pet parade kicks off at 2:00, but there are plenty of activities for the humans to enjoy all day throughout the harbor village, including the farmer’s market, arts and crafts, haunted walking tours, a scarecrow display, a chowder crawl, wine tasting and marshmallow roasting. Don’t forget to pick up some treats to reward your canine companion for being such a good sport with his or her costume modeling tricks. The pet parade is sponsored by Fetch Doggy Boutique and Bakery, located on East Main Street, which carries a variety of baked goods, clothing apparel, beds, bowls and other luxurious accouterments for your pampered pet. The Port Jefferson Frigate, where many a sweet tooth is taunted by the indulgent temptations of ice cream, chocolates and fudge, also sells dog cookies.

Harvest Fest runs from noon until 5:00. For a schedule of festival events and their locations, visit http://www.portjeff.com/2014/10/harvestfest-sunday-october-26-12-noon-5-pm/

The farms and vineyards that flank Sound Avenue and Route 25 along the North Fork have begun to post their signs of welcome to fall festivals throughout the months of September and October.  One of the big attractions at many of these venues for children and for animal lovers of all ages is the menagerie of farmstead creatures great and small that bring the imagery of childhood favorites like "Charlottes's Web" to life.  From goats, sheep, alpacas and cows to chickens, pigs, horses and bison, all of the animals that inspired author E.B. White's cast of characters for his barn cellar scenes await your visit.

Two dairy farms, Catapano Dairy Farm in Peconic and Goodale Farm in Aquebogue, have goats that eagerly welcome attention and human interaction.  At Catapano, milking times are posted for those interested in witnessing the goats' contribution toward the production of some stellar, award-winning cheeses.  Catapano also features an alpaca and some chickens; and their resident cat, Kiki, contentedly greets customers in the retail shop.  In addition to their goats, Goodale is also home to cows, sheep, pigs and chickens.

Harbes Family Farm in Mattituck keeps Nigerian goats, horses, rabbits, Royal Canadian pot-bellied pigs, chickens and sheep to stoke the human-animal bond.  For an entrance fee, visitors to the farm's Barnyard Adventure can pet and feed the animals, learn about them, watch the pigs race and relax on a hayride.  In Jameport, The Little Red Barn's creatures await interaction from their human guests, and pony rides are also available.  Garden of Eve Organic Farm and Market in Riverhead welcomes visitors to pet and feed alpacas.

Some vineyards are home to a few animals as well.  The Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard in Wading River is also home to the Baiting Hollow Farm Horse Rescue, which has been rescuing and providing sanctuary to horses since 2007.  Tours of the stables and a chance to meet and greet the equine residents are offered each weekend, and the proceeds from wine purchases made in the vineyard's retail shop are allocated toward the horse rescue cause and the care of the horses in their charge.   

Jason's Vineyard in Jamesport is one among the increasing number of vineyards to embrace organic farming techniques, including the use of sheep to tend the grounds in lieu of gas-powered mowers and herbicides.  Specifically, babydoll Southdown sheep are valued for their ability to keep lawns mowed and weeds controlled while being petite enough to leave the grapes on the vines to flourish.  Martha Clara Vineyard in Riverhead also provides a home to sheep as well as various other animals, including llama, alpaca, pigs, goats and magnificent Scottish Highland cattle.  

When you pull into one of the many farms and vineyards that are celebrating fall festivals, be sure to take some time out in between the pumpkin and apple picking, corn maze confusion and wine tasting to greet the animals that no farming scene is complete without.  Old Macdonald's farm had nothing on Long Island's sprawling farmland, where kids can interact with the animals face to face, not just sing about them.

Surrounded by water, Long Island is shrouded in marine culture, from magnificent lighthouses and nautical museums to seaport villages and boat-lined docks.  The summer months welcome beach goers to fun in the sun and surf.  What about the aquatic inhabitants that swim our waters year round?  In one day, you can meet some our local marine life, as well as species from faraway regions.

The Long Island Aquarium opened in 2000 under the name of Atlantis Marine World.  The facility opened with the mission of educating Long Islanders about marine life through exhibits and interactive opportunities.   The facility is located in downtown Riverhead, situated along the Peconic River.  In addition to admission to the aquarium, visitors have the option to purchase tickets for an informative riverboat cruise, where a guide will educate passengers about Long Island's marine ecology and the native aquatic residents.

The decorative theme of the aquarium is based on the mysterious underwater metropolis of Atlantis.  There are plenty of exhibits indoors and out, starting with the aquarium's collection of seals that happily and gracefully glide through the turquoise waters of their pool near the entrance.  Once inside, visitors can get an underwater perspective as they watch these seals through an observation window.  Indoor displays include a tank of spectacularly colorful, live coral, an octopus, circling sharks, piranhas, jellyfish, sea horses and much more.  Test your vision by trying to spot the flounders, which are well camouflaged against the sandy bottom of their tank, and try petting a stingray in the touch pool. 

For the ultimate interactive experience, you can arrange in advance for an underwater plunge into the shark tank to come face to face with an assortment of sharks.  Other interactive encounters allow visitors to get up close and personal with some of the aquarium's biggest celebrities.  Pose for a photo shoot while receiving a kiss from one of the sea lions, or learn all about how the baby penguins are cared for behind the scenes.

Outdoors, there are additional exhibits that no one will want to miss.  A cast of sea lions captivates and delights audiences with their performance in the sea lion coliseum. Throughout the show, a trainer educates the audience about sea lions and how they differ from their cousins, the seals.  In Penguin Pavilion, waddling penguins are clad in their natural tuxedoes, ready to step out and amuse their adoring fans.  Another big attraction is the Otter Falls display, where river otters splash in their waterfall pool and entertain crowds of admirers with their silly antics and feeding frenzies at meal times.  The Creatures of the Night display houses some non-marine characters, including bats, a sloth and a porcupine, and the Japanese snow monkeys rule the Lost Temple of Atlantis.  During the summer months, visitors can snorkel in the Shark Reef Lagoon, where bamboo sharks, stingrays and an assortment of tropical fish swim past and guide you through their underwater abode.  For dryer photographic opportunities, take a stroll through the garden and be surrounded by colorful flitting and fluttering butterflies.

Also located inside the Long Island Aquarium is the facility's medical center.  Here, you may get a glimpse of a rescued seal or turtle that is currently receiving treatment and rehabilitation before being rereleased back into the sea.  The Long Island Aquarium runs the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, an organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and preservation of sea turtles, seals, dolphins, porpoises and whales.  They are all endangered species, and the organization also strives to educate the public about the plights of these animals.  The Foundation arranges tours of the rehabilitation facility, seal walks during the winter, beach cleanups, shoreline ecology walks and other opportunities to inform Long Islanders about our marine environment and the life that dwells within.

Long Island Aquarium is located on East Main Street in Riverhead, and it is open daily from 9:00am until 5:00pm.  For more information to help plan your day, visit www.longislandaquarium.com    

If you're looking to adopt a new feline friend to join your family, Compassionate Action, Inc., a Long Island cat rescue organization, has a perfect match for every loving and responsible household.  From tiger stripes, calico cuties and elegant tuxedos to white princesses, striking tortoiseshells and black beauties, there is a winning whiskered face for every taste. 

Compassionate Action is a no-kill group that has been rescuing the Long Island community's homeless, abandoned and abused cats and kittens for nearly a decade.  Their goal is to provide these cats with compassion, fresh starts and loving forever homes.  Frances is the president of Compassionate Action, but you will most likely communicate and interact with the group's director, Elizabeth.  These kind ladies were no strangers to the rescue scene.  They each spent years before Compassionate Action's inception with other animal welfare organizations to end the sad plights of cats in desperate need of love, care and permanent, secure homes. 

Many of the cats and kittens were abandoned, homeless waifs that are now taken off the streets, waterfront docks and anyplace else where they are sited.  They do not come from shelters.  Now that an increasing number of shelters operate under a no-kill policy, the cats in these facilities are already being provided for and given the chance for adoption.  Compassionate Action's goal is to give the truly homeless the same opportunity, a chance they may never otherwise have because the shelters are often full to capacity.  The organization also strives to provide feral cat colonies with safer homesteads.  Once a colony catches their attention, the situation is evaluated.  If the cats are residing in a potentially hazardous location, efforts are pursued to find a safer habitat and relocate the colony.  Volunteers then visit the colonies every day to check on the cats and feed them.

Kittens and cats that are taken in by Compassionate Action receive health examinations and are tested for feline leukemia and FIV, two viral diseases that affect cats by compromising their immune systems.  The cats receive their core vaccinations, they are dewormed, and they are treated for fleas.  Any other typical young feline health issues, such as ear mites, eye infections or upper respiratory infections, are treated as well.  The cats are then placed in various foster homes, where they are cared for, socialized and become acclimated to indoor household life.  This system of taking in the number of cats for which there are foster homes available, and spreading the cats among these homes while they await adoption, minimizes their chances for contracting illnesses from other cats.  Every cat that is adopted from Compassionate Action is in excellent health when delivered to his or her new, permanent home.

As space becomes available and the cats have become healthy and happy, they are transferred for display in the Selden and Lake Grove locations of Petco.  Here, they gain the greatest exposure to potential adopters, and each cat tugs at heartstrings and displays his or her most irresistible, captivating charms to pave the way into a forever home.  Many of the cats that are available for adoption can also be viewed on Compassionate Action's Facebook page and website.  Once an interested party fills out an adoption application, screening begins.  Elizabeth wants each and every cat to end up in a home that will be safe and secure, loved by owners that will provide excellent care, interaction, love and compassion in their home for the rest of the cat's natural life.  To ensure these results, a telephone interview and a home visit will take place.  Once these screenings are passed and the potential adopter is approved, then their new furry friend is hand delivered by the organization to the new home.

Elizabeth takes charge of overseeing and carrying out many of the organization's tasks with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers.  From screening adoption applicants and overseeing adoption events to making daily visits to feral colony sites and shuttling cats to and from veterinarians and foster homes, Elizabeth is determined to provide every single cat with a better life.  Her empathy and hope spread into the hardworking volunteers as they provide day to day care and interact with the cats and kittens.  Elizabeth's devotion is unwavering, her constant efforts are tireless and the love and concern that radiates from her heart to each and every kitty is quite apparent.  She is truly the unsung hero to Long Island's feline population.

Compassionate Action, Inc. is a nonprofit organization, relying solely on donations to operate.  This can certainly, at times, present the toughest challenges.  The strain is especially felt during the spring and early summer months, which is the height of kitten season.  When the influx of kittens requires vaccinations, blood testing, medical treatment and foster homes to house and, in some instances, bottle-feed abandoned orphans, there is always the need for more money in the budget, more foster homes and more volunteers.  As the organization has grown, they have been able to coordinate fundraising events that have included yard sales, vaccination clinics, bowling outings and wine tasting.  They have also expanded their cats’ visibility from one Petco store, in Selden, to include a second Petco location in Lake Grove.  Adoption events are held at Petco every month.

What can you do to help?  Compassionate Action is always in need of volunteers to assist in all aspects of their operations.  Cat lovers who are interested are urged to apply.  There is also a constant need for more households that are willing to temporarily foster cats that are awaiting their forever home.  The more foster homes there are in place, the more cats the organization can take in and help.  If you would like to adopt, volunteer or foster, you may contact Elizabeth at 516-480-9279.  The organization also relies heavily on donated supplies, such as cat and kitten foods, blankets, towels, cat beds, cat furniture and scratching posts, litter boxes and litter, toys, dishes, paper towels, kitten nursing bottles and formula, cat carriers, etc.  You can also visit Compassionate Action's Amazon wish list to order supplies that will ship to them directly.  Remember that all donations are tax-deductible.

If the idea of welcoming a cat or kitten into your home is one that you have been pondering, reach out to one of the many sweet kitties that Compassionate Action, Inc. has to offer.  June is Adopt a Cat month, so there is no time like the present to grant a cat the love, care and compassion of a forever home.  The cat's gratitude, in return, will instantly become apparent and endure for his or her lifetime as you become the recipient of unconditional love and comforting companionship.

For more information about upcoming adoption or fundraising events or to browse available cats for adoption, visit www.compassionateactioninc.com 

Each successful adoption reinforces the goal that Compassionate Action, Inc. is all about.

When Dr. Michael Catapano and his wife Karen opted to purchase eighteen goats in 2001 with the notion of producing cheese on a family farm, little did they know that this decision would pioneer a booming operation.  The result included a herd that grew to more than eighty goats, a relocation to a larger lot complete with a newly constructed barn to better accommodate the growing family business and a stellar line of artisan crafted, award winning cheeses.


Fed up with beaurocracy and budgetary constraints, Dr. Catapano and his wife, a nurse, left Southampton Hospital.  Dr. Catapano subsequently devoted his medical skills to patients at a walk-in clinic, but Karen longed to embrace a life of the land.  The couple acquired the one-acre dairy farm in Mattituck with no knowledge of goat farming whatsoever.  The two jumped in with both feet and have made a success of their endeavor.  Dr. Catapano and his wife tend the goat farm, which produces approximately 6,000 pounds of cheese each year.  Still practicing medicine at the walk-in clinic, Dr. Catapano’s role involves the actual cheese making as well as the occasional helping hand in the birthing of kids every spring.  Karen lovingly raises and cares for the goats and markets their products.  In addition to a creamy, fresh chevre that earned a prestigious award in 2005 at the American Cheese Society’s annual competition, aged goat cheese is also produced, such as their Summer Cloud, as well as soft goat cheeses infused with garlic, lemon, pepper, lavender, honey, herbs and other seasonings.  Other Catapano goat cheeses include feta, ricotta, a goat’s milk cheddar and Peconic Mist, a goat’s milk blue cheese that earned first place in the 2008 competition.  Many local farm stands carry some of these goat cheeses for purchase.  In 2013, the farm expanded its cheese-making repertoire to producing sheep’s milk cheese, which earned the national award for best sheep’s milk cheese in America at the American Cheese Society competition held in Wisconsin.

While cheese is a primary focus, the shop also offers other edibles, such as yogurt and fudge, all produced from the goat’s milk.  Karen has developed a complete line of soaps and skin care products, called The Delicate Doe Goatique, produced from the goat’s milk.

Situated in Peconic on Long Island’s North fork, the Catapano Dairy Farm is ideally located along the North Fork wine trail.  Stop in, visit the friendly goats who relish social interaction, and select some cheeses to enjoy with the locally produced wines that you have picked up along your route.  The farm is open to the public from April to November.  Visit www.catapanodairyfarm.com for directions and hours of operation.