Few things in life are certain.
This is: If you grow up in Boise and go on school field trips, you will encounter the stuffed two-headed calf at the Idaho State Historical Museum. And you will love him.
The creature, subject of a 2007 naming contest that christened him Deja Moo, was born on the Bemrose family farm in Gooding in 1950. He lived only a couple of days. His legend has lived for 63 years.
The museum, at 610 N. Julia Davis Drive, made him into a plush toy around the time he got his name. A giant book near the museum's entrance is filled with photographs that travelers have sent back to Boise - plush toy Deja Moo at Monticello, at the Berlin Wall and at the ruins of Pompeii.
One photo, autographed by the deputy prime minister of China, features Deja Moo hovering over the skyline of Singapore. The Bemrose family recently gave the museum a photo, also in the book, of Deja Moo when he was still alive.
The birth of two-headed calves, while notable, might not be as rare as Deja Moo's celebrity suggests. Kim Taylor, museum store and visitor-services manager, said tourists have told her about similar stuffed calves in museums across the U.S.
But Deja Moo will always be a city treasure. The plush toy is a big seller for the museum.
"Even more for adults than for kids," said museum receptionist Maria Shimel. "He's definitely our mascot."
At the museum's 2012 Dia de los Muertos exhibition, Deja Moo was the centerpiece of a shrine devoted to lost pets.
Anna Webb: 377-6431
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