Vine with 4 slender serrated leaves, pink? flowers and fruit maybe?

[nittygrittydirtdigger]

This vine appeared along a barbed wire fence last spring (2010). The plants around it are all sagebrush and tumbleweeds. It gets no water except for what comes naturally, and in this area that's only about 8" a year, mostly in winter. The example is on a piece of 8"x11" paper, to give an idea of the size. The leaves are in sets of four, and they are slender and distinctly serrated. I didn't see it in flower, but there is a definite reddish-pink tinge to the pollinated flowers. The whole vine is about 5' tall and maybe three feet wide; bigger than last year. Perennial obviously. We don't have any close neighbors, and there's no other vines on our property that look like this, so I'm guessing it's a gift from a passing bird. At least I hope it's a gift!

Is this one of those incredibly easy to ID vines that everyone but me knows of? I wouldn't be surprised, since I don't know much about vines at all.

Any info will be greatly appreciated. Right now, I don't know whether to encourage it or to pull it out!

Thanks!

 

[lesa]

I am going to say Virginia Creeper. You can decide if it is a gift or not! I encourage it in some areas, and immediately pull in others. If you have a fence that you would like covered with no effort- this is the plant for you. The birds love it- the nest in it and eat it. It is very pretty in fall, as the leaves turn bright red. It will cover a building (if you have something cinder block, etc.) It will also grow and ruin big trees. They claim in aerial photos of the Adirondacks, most of the green you see, is Virginia Creeper.