The Very Hungry Caterpillar

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" may be a children's book, but the darn things are so not cute. Why do we lie to our children????

I just googled the type of caterpillar I found on my tomato plants the other day and found this blog with information and a photo.  http://greenfrieda.blogspot.com/2009/06/tip-4-there-will-be-bugs.html

Going through recent photos, I realized I snapped a photo of one without even knowing it was there!!!

Tomato hornworm. Eeewwwwww.

It's called a tomato hornworm and eats everything! Has anyone had success in keeping these things away? Any tips or tricks?  And how do they even get to my plants since I'm on the 2nd floor? I check on my plants every day and stare at the wonders growing there. How did I not see them until they were big, fat, and well fed?  They do blend in with the plant with their color, but still.

So far, I've found 3 of them on my plants. They are big, green and just nasty. If you read the description on the blog above, they are squishy to the touch when they get big, which these were. Gross! I used a plant stake to flick the things to the soil and then a plastic cup to scoop them up and throw them over the side. Now that I know what they are and how much damage they can do, I realize I probably shouldn't throw them into my landlord's garden below as I've been doing. Granted, his garden is plants only, not edibles. (I personally think he's growing weeds, but whatever. To each his own.)

When I showed Chris a picture of what type of caterpillar I had discovered in our (my) garden, his first reaction was "I wonder if you can eat them."  Of course that's how he'd react.  Well, it turns out my friends, that you can. And in fact, they are supposed to be pretty good.  See a recipe here:  http://www.bertc.com/subfive/recipes/hornworms.htm

I don't need any opinions on this one. I'm not cookin' 'em! I have drawn a line and the caterpillars are clearly on the other side, not on my plate. 

Since these caterpillars can do some pretty serious damage, do I:

A) Toss the caterpillars over the railing into my landlord's garden - maybe it's a weed control method.
B) Toss the caterpillars over the railing onto the driveway that others use.
C) Kill them in soapy water, the recommended murder method? Again with the murder.

What would you do??