There are two schools of thought on this.
One school of thought states that possums will almost always attempt to return to the territory where they were born and raised, unless they are relocated a very long way away. Relocation can be detrimental to the possum, because they then have to compete with other possums for that territory. As a result, they invariably die after relocation.
The other school of thought states that there is insufficient evidence that possums return to a territory to fight for territorial rights to the trees. The idea that the original possum returns comes from the fact that ordinary householders simply observe that there are possums present, and are not able to distinguish between individuals. If possums are removed from a location, then others simply move into the resultant vacant territory. "Relocation, clearly, is not a humane method of dealing with a possum problem".
References: State Government of Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Governor in Council order 1995. Pietsch R. 1994, "The fate of the common urban brushtail possums translocated to sclerophyll forest." in "Reintroduction Biology of Australian and New Zealand Fauna" Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton
Once a possum has established its territory, there is nothing you can do to stop it returning. There is a better chance it will return if you feed it, but if it has already established your house as its territory, feeding it will make no difference.
If possums are taken only a short distance away, they will certainly find their way back to their territory. Possums cannot be relocated because they are very territorial.
The brushtail possum of Australia certainly enters the roof space of people's houses, and sometimes chimneys. They do not enter the actual houses.
of course
The phrase "be opossum" expresses pretending death. This is the way how opossum defenses itself.
A opossum.
In a tree or under a tree trunk
call for animal control
Can't Find My Way Home was created in 1989.
Opossums are found in the Americas.
Find Your Own Way Home was created on 2007-04-03.
Yes it is
Yes, Venezuela is home to 20 different species of opossum.
Blind Faiths' "Can't Find My Way Home" is close with the line "Well, I'm wasted and I can't find my way home"
Opossum opossum
Yes, cats have been known to find their way home even over long distances. It is important to have your animal micro chipped in case they are ever lost and can't find their way home. It is not known if rats can find their way home.