The prehensile tail was amazing. The one I was holding was feeling a little panicky at first - I took its tail and wrapped it around my arm and it settled right down to a cuddle. It just wanted the security of being able to hold on with its tail!
We used to have lots of opossums here, too. The raccoons have been replacing them. As a friend of my brother Jeff said on my FB wall, it's the "power of placentals."