Australian possums certainly don't look like rats! Unfortunately, we don't have the right sort of vegetation for them on our property - they like big gum trees. There are two main types here - the brush-tailed (thick, black tail) and the ring-tailed (almost hairless tail - makes it look skinny).

When I went on holiday to Tasmania many moons ago, I did the "Overland Track" - a walking trek through the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. There are huts built for hikers along the route, and the local wildlife (including possums, wallabies, native cats (quolls) and even Tasmanian Devils) show up for a free feed every morning. The possums were quite tame - so much so, that you could feed them by hand. Unfortunately, I chose to hand feed a granita biscuit to the only one-eyed possum in Tasmania, and it bit through my thumbnail! Not great when you're 3 days hike away from civilisation...