But they're also giving the caveat that nobody's ever seen their garter snake that big," she said. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best ...

of these rare snakes, and ensure that suitable habitat creation and mitigation measures take place before large-scale changes occur in rice farming that could eliminate remaining garter snake habitat.

The tiny baby snakes raised at the Columbus Zoo are barely the size of a pencil, but they have a big job ahead of them: saving their species. Why it matters: The plains garter snake is one of Ohio ...