Hi...
I got lucky...
In a nutshell... Yes, go there in the daytime. It's the only way to see them in any kind of time.
And "B"... *Pssst!* ...as you travel past the burned out house, stay to the right and you'll see an narrow path to the north (I think it was). Stick your nose in just enough to get the Mantraps to 'see' you and give chase, then get out of there, run south just far enough to stay out of their range (they get stuck in the narrow passage).
...Flamedrop, Haze, ...almost any Sun spell works, and any other 'distance' spells (all my arrows burned up
).
That won't help on the rest of them you'll run into, but it made me breathe easier for awhile (...then there's those little puff-ball a.... well, YOU know what they look like when you meet them....