Question about semicolons/commas in complex lists

I understand that in a complex list, where at least one item of the list has its own internal punctuation, semicolons are preferred instead of the usual commas. But is the same true for when the only item that has internal punctuation is the last one, such as in the example below? I think commas are acceptable, but I would like to hear what others think.

"It's October. Dead leaves are being whisked across the ground, there is a cold chill in the air, and the sunlight hours are gradually dwindling, leading us into the dark winter days."

My reasoning is that because the conjunction "and" makes it clear that the phrase starting "the sunlight hours" is the last item, there isn't a chance of readers thinking that the clause beginning with "leading" is another item (and a bit of common sense will tell them that it clearly isn't, of course).

Here is another example where the individual items are a lot shorter:

"My Uncle's farm was home to many animals, including pigs, cows, and horses, which were my favourite."