A Big ugly white worm in the compost pile - Or that's what I thought.

I was shoveling from my pile of compost to add it to my garden rows when I saw a big ugly worm that was about 8 -9 inches long and wriggling around like worms do then they are uncovered.  I thought it must be some type of tape worm or something so I cut it in half with my shovel and went about my business of planting.  I decided to go back and take a closer look at it.   Both ends looked the same but I noticed some small eyes and a mouth on one end that looked snake like.   I covered it up and went home.  It was bothering me that I may have killed some endangered species or something so decided to look it up.   By searching for snakes in compost pile, I guess they are quite common and they like to lay their eggs in the compost pile.    I discovered it was a western blind snake.  They live underground in burrows and eat termites and ants, so I realized it killed something that was beneficial.     They are common in Southern California, and the Southwest.     They are blind because they are rarely above ground.    Here is a picture of one I found on the internet and sure enough - that is exactly what it looked like.