caterpillar murder

[BroadRipple]

do you always kill them?
if we're meant to be looking after wildlife, and caterpillars appear which aren't obviously scoffing e.g. brassicas, does it make sense to, er, remove them?
just found an ugly fellow chomping on my (increasingly dead, possibly a connection here) pea plant - 1.5 inches, grey brown, smooth, possibly a hawk moth relation but can't find online - and feel odd about killing it in case it's rare...yet normally stamp on other pests without hesitation. what do you think?
it's like the Moral Maze on here...

[veggiechicken]

You must know my answer without me saying anything! I don't kill caterpillars. There are precious few butterflies and moths around this year and they all have a job to do. So save everyone of them

[Alison]

If they're eating my veg then they get squished, other ones get left to their own devices. Would never spray them.

[Chocolate8me]

I wouldn't kill a caterpillar but if they are munching then I would toss it somewhere else in the garden like I do with those horrid snails. Takes a long time for them to make the journey back to my growing quarteer

[Bren In Pots]

Only those that happen to get under my brassica netting.

[BroadRipple]

don't worry, it has lived to munch another day. the peas, on the other hand...

[Two_Sheds]

I don't kill anything unless I know what it is, and what it's doing. Cabbage white caterpillars get killed, but all others are encouraged.