I'm worried for my cats safety

I'm worried for my cats safety.

She's been staying out all night since the weather got warm,
and stays out a lot during the day. Tonight, right at dusk I
was about to go outside for some fresh air, when I got to the
door I saw my cat standing on her hind legs looking at
something. There was a fox heading for her, she jumped onto a
planter. The fox was going right for her like it was about to
pounce. I let it see me and it ran away, looking back as it
ran.

My cat is naive and acted like she had no clue she was about
to be eaten. She's eight years old but has always been lucky
so far. At night she often stays in a tree, but also stays
below the tree where she can climb it if danger comes.

I've been leaving food out at night and her cat friends come
over to visit and eat.

I guess I'll start spending more time outside to protect my
cat. I've got a snap trap I can put out but I'm worried it
would catch a cat instead.

I know someone will tell me to keep her inside all the time
but that would be like keeping her a prisoner and she likes
to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine with her friends.

*Damn Fox*.

I had a puppy that cried all night so I started leaving it
outside. It did a lot better outside but still cried at night.
The other morning at 05:30 it was crying. When I went out at
07:00 it was nowhere to be found. The neighbors said they
would let me know if they see it but I have my doubts now that
it will ever show back up.

I'm going to leave my cat inside at night for at least a few
nights and stop putting food out for the neighborhood cats.
The cats around here are about half starved. The other night
we had rain so it was late when I put food out. When I looked
out there was a cat frantically looking for the dinner bowl.

I'll check to see about buying a live trap big enough for a
fox. Animals like my land as it has lots of water and vegetation
compared to other property around here.

Any suggestions?
David