Question
I have a shady yard.  How can I get rid of the ticks and mosquitos?

Answer
A common problem.  Very different pests.  Both evil.

Mosquitoes were an issue during recent past summers over their ability to spread the West Nile Virus, if you remember.  The government dealt with this by spraying the country with pesticide that they insisted would be safe.  It obliterated many beneficials populations and it was bad for wildlife, including the birds that it was intended to spare.  And it's not good for people, either.

You won't like this solution, but Bats LOVE to eat Mosquitoes.

Before you write off Bats, understand they get a LOT of bad press.  Dracula turned into one when he was a vampire.  They spread rabies.  They are a favorite Halloween mascot.  They fly at night, which makes them instantly scary, and they are black.

Look at some of these internet pictures of Bats:

http://www.batcon.org/home/default.asp

Look at them long enough and they don't seem that scary after all.  And like I said, they LOVE Mosquitoes.  That alone should have us all running to the store to pick up one for our house.

Bats101 website tells us that one Bat can eat 600 Mosquitoes in ONE HOUR.  Not one day!  ONE HOUR!  That does it for me:

http://www.mosquitoes101.com/bats.aspx

Now, I know you're not ready to adopt a Bat Family to solve this problem.  That's just WAY too over the edge for your situation, right?  The only safe alternative to get rid of a Mosquito problem is to zap them with one of those ridiculous expensive Mosquito lures that combines CO2 with heat and a pheromone Mosquito attractant.  They'll go on sale at the end of the Summer, but they'll still be hundreds of dollars.  No, that's not in the cards either.

Let's look at the two remaining variables we have in control:

One is the use of Mosquito repellent.  I know it's not the answer you're looking for.  But consider that I sent my teenage daughter to South Africa last year and China this year.  Last year, I had her taking doses of Malaria Pills -- not cheap -- just so she would not return to New York with a case of Malaria.  This Summer, she's in rural China -- but money's tight; I packed insect repellent and lectured her until I was blue in the face about using it EVERY DAY.  Mosquitoes and Malaria go together like Bush and Cheney.  Yes, this is not the answer you want, either.

Bacillus thuringiensis ('Bt') is a bacteria fatal to Mosquito larvae and harmless to other organisms, including Birds -- which is why I use it in my birdbaths.  It is sold in many Garden Centers and in Home Depot from time to time, as well as the internet.  Highly effective if you know where all the Mosquitoes are breeding.

Mosquitoes tend to breed in the general area that they live in -- especially if water and warm blooded animals are available to feed on.  Any Mosquito you run into probably was born nearby.  To get rid of a Mosquito problem, remove ALL standing water.  Mosquitoes breed in standing water, sometimes just a capful is all they need to grow hundreds.  It takes 4 to 14 days for larvae to grow into biting females.

Now for Ticks.

There are many kinds of Ticks.  Generally speaking, there are natural predators that we can use to our advantage as control measures.  One very beneficial Wasp, Ixodiphagus hooker, lays its eggs inside baby ticks.  One researcher studied the possibility of releasing an army of Ixodiphagus to control Tick-borne Lyme Disease:

http://www.entsoc.org/Pubs/jme/jmetocs/PDF/me050000645p.pdf

Wikipedia posts an Ixodiphagus entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixodiphagus_hookeri

Spiders, probably my least favorite biological control, enjoy a good Tick snack.  More my cup of tea are parasitizing Fungi, Bacteria and Nematodes that have been studied as potential methods of replacing chemicals to destroy Ticks.

The soil-inhabiting Fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, which attacks an estimated 200 species of insects including Japanese Beetles, is currently on the market as a product called 'Bioblast' for controlling Termites.  It is the most lethal of the Fungi tested against Ticks.  But it is fickle about temperature.  Tests continue.  The USDA posts a report 'Tackling Ticks that Spread Lyme Disease' at its website with extensive details on current research:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar98/tick0398.htm

I wish I could give you a short, quick, positive answer for this short, quick question that many of us worry about.  As of today, July 2007, there are a lot of Maybe's.  Next year, I expect there will be a solid Yes, at least for Ticks, and much more encouraging news about Mosquito control.