diff --git a/scripts/critterspawn.pex b/scripts/critterspawn.pex
index 554680231..dc2c9697c 100644
Binary files a/scripts/critterspawn.pex and b/scripts/critterspawn.pex differ
diff --git a/source/scripts/critterspawn.psc b/source/scripts/critterspawn.psc
index cbee6d74f..69c7535e3 100644
--- a/source/scripts/critterspawn.psc
+++ b/source/scripts/critterspawn.psc
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ Bool property bReducedRespawn = true auto
 int property iCurrentCritterCount = 0 auto hidden ; not used, set to -1 to break vanilla spawner while loops
 bool bLooping = false ; reintroduced to catch baked runaway loops
 float extraWaitTime = 0.0 ; extra time in seconds before trying again
+float fDetachGameTime = 0.0 ; game time (days) of the last cell detach
+; critter.psc delays the kill of a detached critter by 0.31831 game hours and cancels it if the cell attaches again earlier,
+; so the live count is carried over on such a quick re-attach
+float fOldCrittersDeadAfter = 0.02
 
 
 float property fCheckPlayerDistanceTime = 2.0  auto hidden	 
@@ -108,7 +112,12 @@ EVENT OnCellAttach()
 		VanillaLoopBreak() 
 		; the spawner will attach to a cell, this can be the cell we just teleported to (door) or one that loaded in the distance
 		; shouldSpawn()  will check if the spawner should start spawning critters, wait a bit or do nothing
-		iSpawnedCritterCount =   0
+		; critters of the previous attach survive a short detach, keep counting them
+		int liveCritters = iSpawnedCritterCount - iDeadCritterCount
+		if liveCritters < 0 || liveCritters > iMaxCritterCount || Utility.GetCurrentGameTime() - fDetachGameTime > fOldCrittersDeadAfter
+			liveCritters = 0
+		endif
+		iSpawnedCritterCount = liveCritters
 		iDeadCritterCount =  0
 		isSpawning = false
 		 
@@ -146,6 +155,7 @@ endEVENT
 EVENT onCellDetach()
 	shouldTryAgain = false
 	UnregisterForUpdate()
+	fDetachGameTime = Utility.GetCurrentGameTime()
 endEVENT
 
 Function SpawnABatchOfCritters()  
@@ -171,15 +181,20 @@ Function SpawnABatchOfCritters()
 			spawnAttempts = 1
 		endif
 		
+		bool spawnFailed = spawnAttempts > 0
 		while (spawnAttempts>0) 
 			if (SpawnCritterAtRef(self))
 				iSpawnedCritterCount += 1
+				spawnFailed = false
 			endif  
 			spawnAttempts -=1
 		endWhile
 		
 		isSpawning = false
-		if (iMaxCritterCount - iSpawnedCritterCount + iDeadCritterCount>0)
+		if spawnFailed
+			;no critter could be placed, CritterTypes is broken: do not retry until the next cell attach or critter death
+			shouldTryAgain = false
+		elseif (iMaxCritterCount - iSpawnedCritterCount + iDeadCritterCount>0)
 			;we couldn't spawn enough critters, or the player is currently killing them :  try a bit later 
 			QueueAdditionalSpawns() 
 		endIf
@@ -216,22 +231,35 @@ bool Function SpawnCritterAtRef(ObjectReference arSpawnRef)
  	if VanillaLoopBreak()  
 		return false
 	endif
-	; Pick a random critter type
-	Activator critterType = CritterTypes.GetAt(RandomInt(0, CritterTypes.GetSize() - 1)) as Activator
-	
-	if critterType 
-		Critter critty = arSpawnRef.PlaceAtMe(critterType, 1, false, true) as Critter  
-		if critty 
-			critty.SetInitialSpawnerProperties(fLeashLength, fLeashHeight, fLeashDepth, fMaxPlayerDistance + fLeashLength, self)
-			return true 
-		endif  
-	else
-		Debug.Trace("CritterSpawn :" + arSpawnRef + " attempted to spawn a bad critter type, check the contents of " + CritterTypes );
+	int typeCount = 0
+	if CritterTypes
+		typeCount = CritterTypes.GetSize()
+	endif
+	if typeCount == 0
+		Debug.Trace("CritterSpawn :" + self + " has an empty CritterTypes list")
 		return false
 	endif
-	
-	return false 
-	
+
+	; Pick a random critter type
+	Activator critterType = CritterTypes.GetAt(RandomInt(0, typeCount - 1)) as Activator
+	if !critterType
+		Debug.Trace("CritterSpawn :" + arSpawnRef + " attempted to spawn a bad critter type, check the contents of " + CritterTypes)
+		return false
+	endif
+
+	ObjectReference critterRef = arSpawnRef.PlaceAtMe(critterType, 1, false, true)
+	Critter critty = critterRef as Critter
+	if !critty
+		; the activator has no Critter script, remove the orphan reference
+		Debug.Trace("CritterSpawn :" + critterType + " has no Critter script, check the contents of " + CritterTypes)
+		if critterRef
+			critterRef.Delete()
+		endif
+		return false
+	endif
+
+	critty.SetInitialSpawnerProperties(fLeashLength, fLeashHeight, fLeashDepth, fMaxPlayerDistance + fLeashLength, self)
+	return true
 endFunction