Those spider traps sound like the roach traps we can get (or used to get) here in Australia. They'd be a lot more reliable than using sprays, unless you use the spray can itself to goosh the spider - the sprays generally only make the spiders cranky.
Talking about being face to face with a spider - back when I was studying zoology at uni, we had to draw a detailed sketch of a spider and examine it minutely, looking for various bits of anatomy. The spiders we had were not only dead, they were embedded in polyester resin, but there's still something about having to get eyeball to eyeball with a large mouse spider in full leg spread, even when you know the thing can't get out of the plastic block. Even though the mouse spider was the biggest specimen (the size of a dessert bowl) I found it easier to look at than the funnelweb - when you grow up in Sydney you get too well-conditioned, even though I've only ever seen about half a dozen funnelwebs ranging free, in my lifetime. There's something totally alien about being face to face with a spider.
That was a prac class that gave me nightmares. I do not like spiders although I have found knowledge makes me feel a lot safer.
Snakes - all are protected in Australia, we're not allowed to kill them except in self-defence. We can call someone to come and remove a snake, though. If the snake sticks around to get removed, that is. Most of our snakes are fairly harmless, just a few are dangerous.
I do remember the time when our cat brought in a very much alive snake to show it off to us - and it was a venomous one, too - red-bellied black snake. The cat dropped it so it could miaow better, and the snake slithered off (outside, thankfully) but escaped before my father could get a spade through it. "To billy-oh with the thing being protected! It's gone under the blasted house!" he kept shouting.
We do get scorpions in Australia too, but they're tiny and I've rarely heard of anyone getting stung. Ours are fairly harmless. The sting would hurt, that's all. I've found a few over the years, wandering the bush. About the size of a little fingernail. Centipedes - some are big fellas, the sting hurts like - yeah, but you have to be very unlucky or very careless to get stung. Millipedes - totally harmless, kids play with them.
It's what we live with, so we're not too spooked by it, but easy child 2/difficult child 2 is especially disliking of spiders, cockroaches, just about any bugs. mother in law loathes spiders, it's the one thing about living with us in the bush that creeps her out. And the snakes, even the good ones like the large pythons. Monty (our local 3 metre long diamond python) was seen slithering into her garage, she wouldn't go into it for days, even after I searched and pronounced it snake-free. Monty moves around too much, he never stays around any one house for more than a day or so. We see him maybe once or twice every few years, that's all. There is a smaller one we call Diamond Jim, he's about 2 metres long - still very long for a diamond python. They eat mice and rats, so we're very happy to have them around. It's important, however, to not have small dogs roaming free, however. One local miniature Jack Russell terrier had to be rescued from Monty about six years ago, by the dog's young owners. It's possible Monty realised he'd taken too big a mouthful, at about the same time. The snake had swallowed the dog from the tail up to his elbows and couldn't get any further. Interestingly, the dog's name is Elvis - our local paper ran a headline - "Elvis is Alive!"
Marg