The feathered fiend ran fowl of the law as it tried to give officers the slip on Liebig Street.

Constable Joe Fisher said officers managed to corral the bird into a nearby laneway before the fun and games began trying to catch it.

“We didn’t have a plan,” Constable Fisher said with a laugh.

“It was pretty big. I was a bit worried when I saw the size of its claws... But it was quite tame so we were lucky.”

Despite a few misses, Warrnambool’s finest made short work of the bird’s arrest and its bid for freedom ended when officers handed it over to the ranger.

“We still have no idea how it got there,” Constable Fisher said.

Arresting officer Leading Senior Constable Greg Kew said it was just another night on the job.

“Sometimes we deal with turkeys of the human kind and sometimes we deal with turkeys of the animal kind,” he said.

Andrea Lyon, who was on her way to get a drink with a friend after seeing a movie, captured the footage of the encounter on her phone.

“I was laughing so much I couldn’t video,” Mrs Lyon said.

“I was on the way to the Seanchai for a drink and it’s a good thing I saw it on the way there and not on the way back or I’d have to give up drinking I think,” she said with a laugh.