by uzwi
The Russians sent tortoises into space in 1968. You couldn’t make it up. All I remember from the time is being bitterly frustrated when no one came back from low earth orbit as a walking cactus & had to be incinerated after they infested the Houses of Parliament.
the m john harrison blog 
Yesterday I was reading the wiki entry on el duende in Greek mythology, which notes: “Hermes killed a tortoise to create the first lyre, which he traded to Apollo who was enamored by its music”.
The cacti had their needles on the inside and they are still infesting governments, changing bodies according to the whims of the “voters”.