It appears directly in front of me, a brief freeze occurs, I lose something. Last time I lost a diamond and a crystal one of which I got elsewhere - apart from a load of paper I made a loss on that trip.
whenever you run over a trap, watch the messages in the upper left of the screen. if you just see one for the item you found, you're good. but if you see the juju message along with it, immediately jump, even before you see the juju.